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COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



THE MISSIONARY WORK OF THE 
SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 



THE MISSIONARY WORK 

OF THE 

Soutbern !S5apt(0t Convention 



BY 

MARY EMILY WRIGHT 

•A 



WITH INTRODUCTION 

BY 

LANSING BURROWS, D. D. 



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PHILADELPHIA 

American JSaptiet ipubltcation Society 

1420 Chestnut Street 






THE LIBRARY %V 

••NGRESS, 
Two CopiE* Receive* 

MAY. 1 1902 

OOTYHItMT ENTfiV 

CLASS O^ XXo. N«. 

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Copyright 1902 by the 
American Baptist Publication Society 



Published April, 1902 



jfrom tfce Societ^g's own press 



s::^ 



The baptist women of the South who, with singleness of 
heart and unity of purpose, strive for the advancement 
of the Redeemer's kingdom and the glory of our God 



PREFACE 



It has been a matter of surprise to the author 
of this volume that a complete history of the mis- 
sionary operations of the Southern Baptist Con- 
vention has never been placed at the service of 
those interested in missions. Realizing the ad- 
vantages accruing from the use of information 
accessible only to the few, it became her great 
desire to put these advantages within reach of the 
many. Especially did such a book seem desirable 
for the Baptist women of the South who, realizing 
that missionary information is essential to mission- 
ary inspiration, have made such earnest efforts for 
its dissemination. While the personal element 
adds greatly to the interest of a book of this char- 
acter it has been impossible in so small a compass 
to do more than mention many consecrated mis- 
sionaries. In some instances, however, the life of 
the missionary and the history of the mission are 
indivisible, and in some the evidences of the Di- 
vine direction in the call and leading forth of a 
devoted man or woman has been too suggestive to 
be ignored. Even the names of many faithful 
home missionaries are lost to history, but the re- 

vii 



Vlll PREFACE 

suits of their self-denying labors are their lasting 

memorial, and their names, with those of many 

whom they have led into the kingdom, are written 

in the Lamb's book of life. 

The inspiration of this book was a sainted 

grandmother, who stirred a childish fancy with 

stories of Carey and Marshman, of Rice and 

Judson, and awakened an interest which has grown 

with increasing years. With the hope that it may 

impart information, deepen interest, and quicken 

enthusiasm, and the prayer that it may prove a 

blessing to the reader as it has to the author, this 

volume is offered to the kindly attention of the 

Baptists of the South. 

M. E. W. 

Augusta, Ga., April i, 1902. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Introduction xiii 

I. The Convention Organized i 

II. The Woman's Missionary Union 13 

III. Bible and Sunday-school Work 23 

IV. The South China Mission 42 

V. Central China Mission 79 

VI. North China Mission 112 

VII. The Mission in Liberia 143 

VIII. The Mission in Yoruba 153 

IX. The Italian Mission 181 

X. The Brazilian Mission 213 

XL The Mexican Mission 246 

XII. The Japanese Mission 272 

XIII. Home Missionary Operations 283 

XIV. Mission Work Among the Negroes 312 

XV. Missions Among Foreign Populations .... 328 

XVI. The Indian Missions 340 

XVII. The Cuban Mission .' 361 

XVIII. Closing Words 392 

Tabulated Statement of Missionaries . . . 397 

Authorities Consulted 404 

Index 405 

ix 



INTRODUCTION 



Over so extended a country as that which is 
comprised within the scope of the United States 
of America, it is not strange that there should be 
found diverse types of character. Many influences 
combine to create differences so marked as to 
practically describe separate peoples. This is 
equally true of the largest European empires, 
where climate and tradition exercise potent influ- 
ence in the development of peoples, subject to 
the same throne and bearing the same national 
name. Such impulse was not without power even 
in the early history of our own land. Its constitu- 
ents, although speaking the English tongue, were 
not homogeneous. There were many points in 
common upon which national life was crystallized, 
such as the struggle for independence, but upon 
less important matters there were strong views 
which were colored by environment or tradition, 
or inherited customs dating back to the period of 
the first settlements, and these found utterance in 
the debates of the Constitutional Convention. 
Even the swarming of internal migrations, in the 
developing of the country, was largely actuated 

xi 



Xll INTRODUCTION 

by varying motive, so that the traditions of the 
Western Reserve, of the Louisiana Purchase, of 
the Texan annexation, of the El Dorado of the Pa- 
cific, have become entirely variant in their charac- 
ter from each other while homogeneous in them- 
selves. 

Although united under a common name, and 
rejoicing in the boast of a common history, which 
has so highly illumined the annals of the race, a 
great divergence in character and methods of 
living has always existed between the Northern 
and Southern States of the Union, The unhappy 
internecine strife was not the occasion of this di- 
vergence, but an outgrowth of it. The rigorous 
climate of New England had been developing a type 
entirely different from that which was produced 
by the more genial and languorous climate of the 
South, among peoples that had sprung from differ- 
ent stocks of the same great race. The leaders of 
influence were affected by varying circumstances. 
The population of one division was more compact 
than the other. Questions of political economy 
were colored by the necessities of a comparatively 
crowded community on the one hand and of sparse 
or isolated communities on the other. The taste 
of one section was commercial or mechanical, of 
the other it was mainly pastoral. Commercialism 
tended toward unity and the obliterating of the 
imaginary lines of the political geographies. The 



INTRODUCTION XIU 

agricultural life tended toward independence, the 
fancied security of isolation, and the undue empha- 
sizing of State lines. New England, especially, 
became so homogeneous that one great city stood 
as its center of commerce and influence, quite 
irrespective of State hegemony. The crossing of 
a State line in the South found changed conditions 
and traditions, and marked variety in the manner 
of thought and action. As the State lines grew 
fainter in the North and West, they became 
stronger in the South. It was the result of op- 
posing conditions. To the descendant of the 
Puritan and of the Cavalier life projected itself in 
the spirit of the fathers. The questions which 
culminated in the terrible conflict of the Civil War 
had been growing in intensity from the initial set- 
tlement of the country. 

The Southern country was at a great disadvan- 
tage because of its individualism and self-imposed 
isolation. It devoted itself to one great, general 
employment, while the other section became iden- 
tified in multiform industries. The activities in- 
volved in the prosecution of these varied employ- 
ments were more conducive to independent 
thinking than the more indulgent life of the 
plantations. Thinkers and scholars, indeed, were 
produced, and they were men of unblemished 
life and marked genius, but they were apt to be 
mere doctrinaires and their writings partake more 



XIV INTRODUCTION 

of dreamy theorizing, natural to their surround- 
ings ; on the other hand, the writings of the other 
section were influenced more by their practical and 
mechanical environment. There were exceptions 
which only serve to make more prominent the va- 
riation , as for example, the Concord philosophers, 
who made little impression upon their age. 

Toward the middle of the nineteenth century 
men had grown to regard the great questions 
which were agitating them from opposing view- 
points. No indictment against their sincerity can 
now be made to stand. There was almost on 
every theme a Northern and a Southern view, the 
conclusions being honestly arrived at from the 
point of view which was taken. The questions 
were not alone political, they affected social and 
religious thought. Even the ideal of domestic 
living was variant, the dignity of labor being in- 
volved and the supremacy of material prosperity 
or its subordination to higher purposes. The 
trend of theological thought was also different, 
swaying from mysterious metaphysical abstractions 
upon the one hand, to close and even ritualistic 
literalism of interpretatation on the other. There 
was a similar bent in political thought, developing 
into liberalism on one side and strict construction 
of the letter of the Constitution on the other, — one 
view seeking to keep national life abreast of the 
speedy development of the country, and the other 






INTRODUCTION XV 

keeping jealous watch over suspected encroach- 
ments upon the Hberties of the people. The com- 
munal interests of the industrial North began to 
clash with those of the agricultural South ; princi- 
ples which conserved the prosperity of one worked 
to the disadvantage of the other. Shop against 
farm underlies the great tariff problems, and 
Judah and Ephraim, for reasons of self-preserva- 
tion, must needs vex one another. 

When slavery, that source of national trouble, 
was eliminated, the original conditions which had 
prevailed were not obliterated. The union of 
States was preserved and cemented indissolubly 
for all time. But the traditions of two centuries, 
the heredity of peoples derived from different 
stocks, and the manners and customs ingrained, 
were not removed. In addition, the sorrows and 
bitterness, the violent wrench upon the labor sys- 
tem, with the consequent dissipation of material 
wealth, and the suspicion, whether groundless or 
no, of a relegation to a subordinate position un- 
worthy of confidence in the affairs of national life, 
could not be ignored. These were factors which 
were real, and which time alone could soften and 
much more entirely remove. 

No intelligent or high-spirited people can be 
marshaled by leaders not in sympathetic touch 
with their traditions or habits of thought. Suc- 
cessful leadership requires the confidence of those 



XVI INTRODUCTION 

who are led, and this confidence is born out of 
sense of fellowship and comity of interest. It is 
not a question of what ought to be in the ideal 
kingdom of heaven ; it is a question of prevailing 
conditions in the struggles to attain the ideal. 
Eminent Christian leaders are to be found in all 
countries, but it is a fact that pious influences 
emanating from Furnival Street, in London, cannot 
hope to develop Christian efficiency in evangelical 
work in America, even in the Maritime Provinces 
of Canada, or the islands of Australasia. Nor can 
Canadian brethren, with an unblemished record of 
faithful administration, affect in any wise their 
fellow-Christians across the imaginary line which 
separates their Dominion from this Union. For 
better development the activities of each people 
are confined within lines that circumscribe not so 
much their geographical habitation as their unity 
of thought and comity of interest. 

This was the principle which led to the organi- 
zation of the Southern Baptist Convention. The 
clash of political sentiment simply crystallized a 
movement that was impossible to be avoided. 
The vast distances from the base of operations 
was one great obstacle at the beginning of effect- 
ive missionary work in America. As the country 
grew, these distances increased. The mighty in- 
fluences growing out of the gatherings of the 
people were entirely wanting in the South, and 



INTRODUCTION XVU 

these gatherings occurred but once in three years 
and never penetrated the agricultural South. The 
limited opportunities for travel prevented the ac- 
quaintance of the people with the men who admin- 
istered denominational affairs. In the earliest 
report of the Foreign Mission Board of the Con- 
vention may be found this complaint : 

Nor has the influence of the Foreign Missionary Board 
at Boston been sufficiently strong to train our churches to 
systematic liberality. Its pulsations have been but feebly 
felt at the South, while near the center of action an influ- 
ence has continually gone forth, creating and fostering the 
spirit of missions. Its publications, its agents, its returned 
missionaries, and other appliances, have been brought to 
bear with increasing power upon the North for the last 
thirty years, but owing to the vast extent of our territory 
these means have been but occasionally or imperfectly 
employed throughout the whole Southern country. 

There could be no help for this condition of 
things under the prevailing methods. The South- 
ern Baptists were so situated in their pastoral 
pursuits that towns were rare and small and vil- 
lages but mere hamlets far apart, while places of 
worship were at secluded points and utilized but 
twelve times in each year. So the methods which 
proved successful at the North could promise little 
or nothing at the South. The new men and the 
new methods were imperatively demanded by the 
situation. 



XVlll INTRODUCTION 

If it be urged that one question seemed upper- 
most in the counsels of the gathering at Augusta 
which created a new denominational force, it must 
be admitted that this is true. It was natural that 
those men should have reflected more than was 
meet upon only one phase of the argument which 
led to separation. They knew not what they were 
building, as is true of the origins of many enter- 
prises appointed by the Divine Wisdom for the 
furtherance of the kingdom. The after-years 
have proven that these men were wiser than they 
thought, for they set in motion the only influences 
powerful enough to develop the thousands of hum- 
ble churches about them into the present strong 
forces for the glory of the Redeemer. Without 
that combination of effort it is fair to say that the 
Baptists of the South would have shriveled into 
an ineffective self-concentration. Thrown upon 
their own resources, led by men out of their own 
ranks who were inspired by the traditions of a 
common heritage and winning confidence by their 
intimate association with the churches, sending 
forth missionaries from their native mountains and 
fields. Southern Baptists have arisen to a power 
of efficiency and unity which can but increase 
through the present century. And this develop- 
ment of labor promises to contribute to the devel- 
opment of world-wide interest in the work of a 
common brotherhood. For as a Christian is 



INTRODUCTION XIX 

trained to usefulness and learns to read the com- 
mission as an individual obligation upon himself, 
his sympathies warm toward all of like common 
faith who are striving to bring in the kingdom of 
our Christ. Indeed, " the unity of the Spirit," 
much more to be esteemed than a mere external 
uniformity of activity, is more sure of accomplish- 
ment by the ** diversities of operations." 

Lansing Burrows. 

Nashville, Tenn. 



THE MISSIONARY WORK 

OF THE 

SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 



THE CONVENTION ORGANIZED 

THE year 1845 ^^^^ memorable in the history 
of the Southern Baptists. At that time 
was formed the Southern Baptist Convention and 
then began those missionary operations which 
have ever since been their glory and joy. Prior 
to 1845 the Baptists of the South co-operated with 
the Baptists of the North in supporting the Tri- 
ennial Convention, formed in Philadelphia, May 
18, 1 8 14. Southern men had been prominent in 
its councils, and harmony in the prosecution of 
mission work prevailed until the agitation of the 
question of African slavery. For many years the 
question had been warmly discussed in Baptist cir- 
cles, but it was not until 1840 that the differences 
between North and South became markedly evi- 



2 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

dent. Even then the counsels of the more pru- 
dent and conservative prevailed, and everything 
calculated to mar the general harmony was ex- 
cluded from the deliberations of the Triennial 
Convention. 

Some conservative leaders were determined to 
avert impending trouble, believing it possible ; to 
others it was clear that dissolution was unavoid- 
able. Dr. Richard Fuller, who believed that dis- 
ruption could be averted, offered in the Triennial 
Convention of 1844 the following: 

Whereas, Some misapprehension exists in certain parts 
of the country as to the design or character of this Conven- 
tion, and it is most desirable that such misapprehension 
should be removed ; therefore, 

Resolved, That this Convention is a corporation with 
limited powers for a specific purpose defined in its constitu- 
tion ; and therefore, that its members are delegated to meet 
solely for the transaction of business prescribed by the said 
constitution ; and that co-operation in this body does not 
involve nor imply any concert or sympathy as to any mat- 
ters foreign from the object designated as aforesaid. 

This resolution received a prompt second from 
Spencer H. Cone, of New York, and was sus- 
tained by William Hague, of Massachusetts, and 
J. B. Jeter, of Virginia, Its most determined 
opponent was Nathaniel Colver, of Massachusetts, 
" who expressed the desire that he be not handi- 
capped respecting any matter that might come for 
consideration before the body." 



THE CONVENTION ORGANIZED 3 

The resolution was withdrawn and the following 
was offered and adopted : 

Whereas, There exists in various sections of our coun- 
try an impression that our present organization involves the 
fellowship of the institution of domestic slavery or of cer- 
tain associations which are designed to oppose this insti- 
tution ; 

Resolved, That in co-operating together as members of 
this Convention in the work of foreign missions we disclaim 
all sanction, either expressed or implied, whether of slavery 
or of anti-slavery ; but as individuals we are perfectly free 
both to express and to promote our own views on these 
subjects in a Christian manner and spirit. 

This was the last meeting of the Triennial Con- 
vention at which the whole country was repre- 
sented. Events immediately following this meeting 
led to the speedy rupture of harmonious relations. 
The pro-slavery advocates among Southern Bap- 
tists claimed that just subsequent to the Con- 
vention of 1844 the Board of Foreign Missions 
procured the retirement of Rev. John Bushyhead, 
a highly respected Indian Baptist preacher, because 
he was an owner of slaves. The impression was 
thus created that slaveholders would not hence- 
forth be admitted to appointment under the Board. 
The calm and courteous discussion of the institu- 
tion of slavery in a newspaper controversy between 
those two leaders of thought North and South, 
Francis Wayland and Richard Fuller, served for a 
brief season to allay bitterness of feeling. Utter- 



4 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

ances attributed to Dr. R. E. Patterson, the Home 
Secretary of the Boston Board, fanned the smoul- 
dering fires of popular excitement into a flame. 
These utterances intimated that the acting Board 
of the Triennial Convention would no longer tole- 
rate slavery, and called forth the following query 
from the Tuscaloosa Church to the Alabama State 
Convention : " Is it proper for us at the South to 
send any more money to our brethren at the North 
for missionary and other benevolent purposes be- 
fore the subject of slavery be rightly understood 
by both parties ? " The authorship of the query 
was attributed to Dr. Basil Manly, Sr., and, together 
with a communication to the Alabama Baptist Con- 
vention from the Georgia Baptist Convention, was 
referred to a committee of which he was chairman. 
The committee framed the following resolutions, 
known as the Alabama resolutions : 

Whereas, The holding of property in African Negro 
slaves has for some years excited discussion as a question 
of morals between different portions of the Baptist denomi- 
nation united in benevolent enterprise, and by a large 
portion of our brethren is now imputed to the slaveholders 
in these Southern and Southwestern States as a sin at once 
grievous, palpable, and disqualifying, 

(i) Resolved, That when one party to a voluntary com- 
pact among Christian brethren is not willing to acknowl- 
edge the entire social equality with the other as to all the 
privileges and benefits of the union, nor even to refrain 
from impeachment and annoyance, united efforts between 



THE CONVENTION ORGANIZED 5 

such parties, even in the sacred cause of Christian benevo- 
lence, cease to be agreeable, useful, or proper. 

(2) Resolved, That our duty at this crisis requires us to 
demand from the proper authorities in all those bodies to 
whose funds we have contributed or with whom we have in 
any way been connected, the distinct, explicit avowal that 
slaveholders are eligible, and entitled equally with non- 
slaveholders to all the privileges and immunities of their 
several unions, and especially to receive any agency, mis- 
sion, or other appointment which may run within the scope 
of their operations or duties. 

After some correspondence between the Ala- 
bama State Convention and the Acting Board of 
the Triennial Convention the whole matter was 
referred to a committee. This committee sub- 
mitted the following report, which was adopted at 
the annual meeting of the Board of Managers, held 
in Providence, R. I., April 30, 1845 : 

The committee have attended to the duty confided to 
them, and ask leave to present the following statements as 
embracing substantially their views on the subject to which 
the correspondence refers. They are happy also to add, 
that in these views the members of the acting Board present 
in general coincide. 

1. The spirit of the constitution of the General Conven- 
tion, as well as the history of its proceedings from the 
beginning, renders it apparent that all the members of the 
Baptist denomination in good standing, whether at the 
North or the South, are constitutionally eligible to all 
appointments emanating either from the Convention or 
the Board. 

2. While this is the case, it is possible that contingen- 



6 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

cies may arise in which the carrying out of this principle 
might create the necessity of making appointments by 
which the brethren of the North would, either in fact or in 
the opinion of the Christian community, become responsible 
for institutions which they could not, with a good con- 
science, sanction. 

3. Were such a case to occur, we could not desire our 
brethren to violate their convictions of duty by making 
such appointments, but should consider it incumbent upon 
them to refer the case to the Convention for its decision. 

All of which is respectfully submitted, in behalf of the 
committee. 

F. Wayland, Chairman. 

The Baptists of the South were not satisfied 
with this report, and the committee of the Ala- 
bama Convention addressed a direct inquiry to the 
Acting Board in Boston asking if a slaveholder 
would be appointed as a missionary. The reply 
was that '* in accordance with the conscientious 
convictions of the members of the Board they 
could not appoint any person as a missionary who 
was the owner of slaves." 

Meanwhile the American Baptist Home Mission 
Society had declared a separation from Southern 
churches expedient and had taken measures to 
effect it. The society refused to appoint James 
E. Reeves, a missionary within the Tallapoosa 
Association, of Georgia, for the reason that he 
was a slaveholder. This refusal was made directly 
to the Executive Committee of the Georgia Baptist 
Convention. Thus practical demonstration was 



THE CONVENTION ORGANIZED 7 

given of the position taken by the Home Mission 
Society. The committee appointed to consider the 
subject of an amicable dissolution of the society 
presented the following report when the national 
anniversaries met in Providence, R. L, in 1845 : 

Whereas, The American Baptist Home Mission Society 
is composed of contributors residing in slaveholding States ; 
and, 

Whereas, The constitution recognizes no distinction 
among the members of the Society as to the eligibility of 
all the offices and appointments in the gift both of the 
society and the Board ; and, 

Whereas, It has been found that the basis on which the 
Society was organized is one upon which all the members 
and friends of the Society are not now willing to act ; 
therefore, 

Resolved, That it is expedient that the members now 
forming the Society should hereafter act in separate organi- 
zations at the South and at the North in promoting the 
objects which were originally contemplated by the Society. 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to report a 
plan by which the object contemplated in the preceding 
resolution may be acccomplished in the best way and at 
the earliest period of time consistently with the preserva- 
tion of the constitutional rights of all the members and 
with the least possible interruption of the missionary work 
of the Society. 

This report gave rise to prolonged discussion. 
Doctor Wayland endeavored to stay the tide set- 
ting toward separation, but even his influence and 
eloquence failed and the report was adopted. 



8 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

The withdrawal of Southern Baptists from co- 
operation with their Northern brethren was now 
inevitable. One by one the Conventions of the 
Southern States severed their connection with 
the Triennial Convention. In response to a sug- 
gestion from the Foreign Mission Society of Vir- 
ginia, three hundred and twenty-eight men from 
the States of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and 
Kentucky, and the District of Columbia, gathered 
in the meeting-house of the First Baptist Church, 
in Augusta, Ga., May 8, 1845. ^^ the midst of 
great enthusiasm the body proceeded to organiza- 
tion, and the following resolution was unanimously 
adopted : 

That for peace and harmony, and in order to accom- 
plish the greatest amount of good and for the maintenance 
of those scriptural principles on which the General Mis- 
sionary Convention of the Baptist denomination of the 
United States was originally formed, it is proper that this 
Convention at once proceed to organize for the propaga- 
tion of the gospel. 

The constitution adopted was essentially the 
same as that under which Baptists North and 
South had worked together for thirty-four years. 
It still remains practically the same, only such 
changes having been made as the growth of the 
work and altered conditions demanded. An ad- 
dress 'was prepared, '* setting forth the reasons 



THE CONVENTION ORGANIZED 9 

which led to the formation of the Southern Baptist 
Convention and giving an exposition of its princi- 
ples and objects." This address was directed 
" to the brethren in the United States, to the con- 
gregations connected with the respective churches, 
and to all candid men." It sounded no uncertain 
note, and stands as a lasting memorial to the can- 
dor and strength of conviction of the men who 
framed it. This has been so often published that 
we give here no more than its expressed purpose. 
This was declared to be : 

The extension of the Messiah's kingdom and the glory 
of our God. Not disunion with any of his people, not the 
upholding of any form of human pohcy or civil rights, but 
God' s glory and Messiah' s increasing reign, in the promo- 
tion of which we find no necessity for relinquishing any of 
our civil rights. 

Though friction was unavoidable in a disunion 
involving such grave issues, public negotiations 
were conducted with a courtesy and forbearance 
in accord with the elevated Christian character of 
the contending parties. The separation has not 
proved the disaster that its most earnest opponents 
feared ; rather has it been in many respects of 
signal advantage. One change from the original 
methods of the Triennial Convention was dictated 
by experience. Instead of establishing a single 
Board having charge of several departments of 
denominational effort, it was deemed expedient to 



10 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

establish two co-ordinate Boards, each dependent 
upon the body which had constituted it. Accord- 
ingly, a Board to have charge of all foreign mission 
interests was appointed and located in Richmond, 
Va., and one to promote home missions was ap- 
pointed and located in Marion, Ala. The Foreign 
Mission Board has numbered among its presidents 
some of the most illustrious names in Baptist his- 
tory, names that are household words in Southern 
Baptist homes. They are J. B. Jeter, R. B. C. 
Howell, J. L. Burrows, J. L. M. Curry, H. H. 
Harris, and C. H. Winston, the present incum- 
bent. The Board has been favored in the reten- 
tion of its secretaries through a long term of years. 
Of Rev. James B. Taylor, who served the Board 
for twenty-five years, it was said : " His life was 
missions and his death the missionary's crown." 
H. A. Tupper, d. d., succeeded Doctor Taylor in 
1 87 1, and served the Board with untiring zeal 
until 1893, when he tendered his resignation and 
was succeeded by R. J. Willingham, d. d., who 
still holds the office. 

The Home Mission Board, or the Domestic Mis- 
sion Board, as it was then called, encountered 
many vicissitudes in securing permanent officers, 
and was thus greatly hampered in organizing and 
conducting its work. The Convention of 1855 
received a proposition from the Indian Mission 
Association of Louisville, Ky., whose work was 



THE CONVENTION ORGANIZED I I 

supported mainly by Southern Baptists, to unite 
with the Southern Baptist Convention and trans- 
fer its mission work to the Home Mission Board. 
This arrangement was effected and the Board was 
known as the Domestic and Indian Mission Board 
until 1874. After years of enfeebled existence 
the Home Mission Board shared in the impetus 
of 1879. It was removed from Marion, Ala., to 
Atlanta, Ga., in 1882, and in the reconstruction 
an effort was made to popularize the Board by the 
selection of members from points other than 
Atlanta. By the adoption of this policy it was 
thought that the Board might be divested of tra- 
ditional conditions which hampered its progress 
and its prosperity thus be promoted. The services 
of I. T. Tichenor, d. d., were secured as cor- 
responding secretary, and under his judicious 
management the Board entered upon a career 
of unprecedented prosperity. After seventeen 
years of service Doctor Tichenor was made secre- 
tary emeritus and F. H, Kerfoot, d. d., of Louis- 
ville, Ky., was elected corresponding secretary. 
Doctor Kerfoot brought to the office the strength 
of well-developed powers and the force of a com- 
manding personality. Less than two years were 
permitted him in which to inaugurate plans for 
the enlargement of the work of the Board. June 
22, 1 90 1, the Master called him unto himself. 
F. C. McConnell, d. d., of Lynchburg, Va., was 



12 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

elected to succeed Doctor Kerfoot, and entered 
upon his duties in the autumn of 1901. 

Other Boards were constituted as the years 
passed. In 185 1 a Bible Board was established 
at Nashville, Tenn. Several organizations were 
already in the field, and the Board was never able 
to obtain the sympathy and aid it merited. It 
was abolished by the Convention of 1863, ^^^ ^ 
Sunday-school Board was appointed and located 
in Greenville, S. C. This Board coming into ex- 
istence during the Civil War, was a valuable 
agency in furnishing literature at a time when 
there was no possibility of obtaining it from other 
sources. It had never a very vigorous life, and 
was incorporated with the Home Board in 1873. 
The present Sunday-school Board, located at Nash- 
ville, Tenn., was organized in 1891. The year 
1888 witnessed the organization of the Woman's 
Missionary Union, auxiliary to the Convention. 
The Union has proved a faithful and untiring 
handmaiden to the Convention. Thus the way 
was opened and those forces set in motion which 
have enabled the Southern Baptist Convention to 
inaugurate and carry forward a great and increas- 
ing work. 



II 

THE woman's missionary UNION 

THE Woman's Missionary Union closed in 1901 
the thirteenth year of its history, a history 
that is also a prophecy of yet greater beneficence 
and far-reaching influence. Its organization was 
the result of a desire on the part of earnest workers 
to systematize, for mutual help and increased influ- 
ence, the work already being done in a number 
of States. 

The movement toward missionary organizations 
of women was started in Brooklyn in i860, and, 
after a number of years, found its way to Balti- 
more, Md. There it awakened the interest of 
Mrs. Graves, mother of our veteran missionary in 
China, Rev. R. H. Graves, and through her per- 
sonal influence it took root and spread in several 
places in the South. South Carolina and Ala- 
bama first felt the impulse, Virginia and Georgia 
quickly followed, and other States were not far 
behind in the organization of local societies. The 
corresponding secretary of the Foreign Mission 
Board, Dr. H. A. Tupper, foreseeing the work 
which this movement was destined to accomplish, 

13 



14 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

lent it from the first his unfailing sympathy and 
support. So early as 1874 the Foreign Mission 
Board recommended the formation of women's 
central committees in each State. The interest 
manifested by the Foreign Mission Board natu- 
rally drew the societies into closer sympathy with 
that Board, and hence for some years the efforts 
of the women were almost exclusively devoted to 
foreign missions. 

That Southern Baptist women were organizing 
for mission work and the significance of that or- 
ganization was first brought to the attention of 
the Convention in 1875. Five delegates to the 
Convention represented contributions from wo- 
men's societies. One represented the '' Woman's 
Mission to Woman," of Baltimore ; one the " Wo- 
men's Mission Society of Richmond " ; and three 
represented societies connected with churches in 
Savannah, Atlanta, and La Grange, Ga. In 1876 
many societies were reported, South Carolina lead- 
ing with sixty-eight. 

Two enterprises enlisted especial interest, the 
mission house at Tung Chow and that at Canton, 
and for them liberal contributions were made. 
Following the recommendation of the Foreign 
Mission Board in 1876, central committees for 
woman's work were appointed. *' The appoint- 
ments were made on nomination of judicious coun- 
sellors in the several §tates." In 1878 the Con- 



THE WOMAN S MISSIONARY UNION I 5 

vention recommended the formation of central 
committees in all the States. The report on 
woman's work presented to the Convention of 
1879 urged the formation of two central commit- 
tees in each State, one for home and one for 
foreign missions, and two societies in every church, 
one to co-operate with each of these committees. 
This suggestion met with no success except in 
Baltimore, where separate organizations are still 
maintained. The Home Board had not yet ob- 
tained a permanent place in the affections of the 
people, and "it soon became evident that the work 
could be more efficiently done by one organization." 
In 1880 central committees were requested to 
report to the Boards by April i of each year, and 
the amount of money raised was to be incorporated 
in these reports. At this time the women's socie- 
ties numbered about five hundred, and three hun- 
dred and fifty of these contributed to the Foreign 
Mission Board ^6,000. With the reorganization 
of the Home Mission Board, and the election of 
Dr. I. T. Tichenor as corresponding secretary in 
1882, the operations of this Board began to excite 
a deeper interest among the societies and central 
committees. Fostered by the wise and appre- 
ciative secretary, the interest steadily increased, 
until in 1898 the gifts to the Home Mission Board, 
including the valuation of boxes of supplies, ex- 
ceeded those to the Foreign Mission Board. 



1 6 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

With the growth of woman's work for missions 
the need of a general organization became increas- 
ingly apparent. For three years a few earnest 
women had met during the sessions of the Con- 
vention to discuss this need, but in 1887, at Louis- 
ville, Ky., a general meeting was held. A number 
of women met by previous appointment to con- 
sider the subject. Some were for immediate 
organization, but the wise counsel of the majority 
prevailed. It was decided to ask the central com- 
mittees of each State to send three delegates to a 
meeting to be held in Richmond, Va., in May, 
1888, to decide upon the desirability of a general 
committee, and, if found advisable, to provide for 
its appointment. In response to this request, 
thirty-two delegates, representing twelve States, 
assembled at the appointed time. North Carolina 
and Alabama sent no accredited delegates. Ten 
of these States cordially approved the movement 
as an advance on other methods and an aid to 
progress in mission work. Virginia and Missis- 
sippi, though interested, thought it wise to delay 
action. 

A constitution, framed with great wisdom, was 
adopted. It showed the purpose of the organiza- 
tion to be the stimulation of the missionary spirit 
and the grace of giving among the women and 
children and the collection of funds to be dis- 
bursed by the Boards ; its objects, to distribute 



THE WOMAN S MISSIONARY UNION 1 7 

missionary information, encourage the formation of 
new societies, and secure the co-operation of women 
and children in raising money for missions. This 
constitution has served all requirements, the name 
only needing to be changed from the lesser title, 
" Executive Committee of Woman's Mission So- 
cieties," to the more comprehensive one of "Wo- 
man's Missionary Union." Miss M. E. Mcintosh, 
of South Carolina, was elected president, and Miss 
Annie W. Armstrong, of Baltimore, Md., corre- 
sponding secretary. The Executive Committee 
was located at Baltimore, and a committee of nine 
managers was chosen. 

Two points were from the beginning carefully 
guarded ; the first, that the Union should be what 
its name indicates, an auxiliary of the Convention. 
It has never sought to direct the policy of the 
Boards either at home or abroad. It has simply 
carried out the suggestions of the Boards pre- 
sented at each annual meeting. The expenses of 
the Union are divided between the Boards, and 
from the beginning the officers have declined all 
pecuniary compensation for their services. The 
other point, maintained with equal insistence, was 
the supremacy of the central committees in State 
affairs. The Union makes the central committee 
the intermediary between the local society and it- 
self in the distribution of literature, the circulation 
of appeals, and in all other methods of work. Cen- 

B 



1 8 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

tral committees are not a part of the Union, but 
separate organizations working in harmony with it. 
The annual meeting of the Woman's Missionary 
Union consists of the officers and eight delegates 
from each State, accredited by the central commit- 
tees of their States. A vice-president for each 
State is elected at the annual meeting, on nomina- 
tion of delegates from her own State, who repre- 
sents the Union in all State conferences and the 
State on the executive committee of the Union. 
During the first year Virginia and Mississippi en- 
tered the Union. Nearly ^10,000 more was con- 
tributed than during the previous year of unorgan- 
ized effort, making the reported receipts more than 
$30,000. The Christmas offering for China, inaug- 
urated this first year, has become a permanent fea- 
ture of the Woman's Missionary Union. The spe- 
cial work undertaken for the Home Board was a? 
collection for the Havana church by the Cuban 
brick cards. Some of the educational features 
that have characterized the Union and have been 
potent factors in its success were inaugurated. 
The mission prayer card, two manuals, one for 
women's mission societies and the other for young 
people, were prepared and circulated with the 
annual report and other leaflets. The method of 
distribution is to send sample copies to central 
committees, supplying free of cost what is desired 
for the use of societies. 



THE WOMAN S MISSIONARY UNION IQ 

In the second year, 1890, Alabama joined the 
Union. The following year North Carolina and 
Western Arkansas and Indian Territory entered. 
A new line of work suggested by the Home Board 
and adopted by the Union was the sending of 
boxes of supplies to frontier and other needy 
home missionaries. Both as a means of aiding 
the home missionaries and as a means of awaken- 
ing an interest in, and an appreciation of, home 
mission needs, it has been entirely successful. 
This was a year of new enterprises. A school for 
girls was opened in Cuba. The Woman's Mis- 
sionary Union took charge of a mission depart- 
ment in ''Kind Words," the Sunday-school paper 
then issued by the Home Mission Board. To 
utilize existing agencies rather than to attempt to 
create new ones has been a distinctive policy of 
Woman's Missionary Union work. In pursuance 
of this policy, missionary information on the mis- 
sion prayer card topics was sent to central commit- 
tees for use in State papers. 

In 1892 the Woman's Missionary Union felt 
the impulse of the Carey Centennial of Modern 
Missions, which had awakened the Baptists of the 
world to a special effort for the advancement of 
Christ's kingdom. Plans to secure greatly en- 
larged contributions were adopted. Prominent 
among these was the chapel card and certificate, 
the object of which was to secure a fund for per- 



20 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

manent work. This plan proved eminently suc- 
cessful. The week of prayer at the beginning 
of the new year, with the prepared programme of 
topics, was cordially adopted by the central com- 
mittees, and has since been observed year by 
year. At the annual meeting of 1892, Miss F. E. 
S. Heck, of Raleigh, N. C, was chosen president 
of the Union. 

The year 1893 witnessed a high tide of enthu- 
siasm and of giving. More than ;^62,ooo was 
reported. A vast amount of centennial literature 
was distributed, not only to societies and bands, 
but also to Sunday-schools. A mission among 
immigrants was opened in Baltimore, with Miss 
Buhlmaier as missionary, and work among the 
colored people was especially commended. The 
new lines inaugurated in 1894 were missionary 
day in the Sunday-schools, the Woman's Mission- 
ary Union preparing the programme, and the 
opening of a band department in the " Foreign 
Mission Journal." Miss Heck resigned from the 
presidency, and Mrs. A. M. Gwathmey, of Rich- 
mond, Va., served for one year. The week of 
self-denial in behalf of home missions was insti- 
tuted in 1895, and great interest was manifested 
in its observance. In response to a special appeal 
from the Foreign Mission Board to raise ^5,000 
toward its debt, more than that amount was con- 
tributed. The Sunday-school Board for the first 



THE WOMAN S MISSIONARY UNION 21 

time sent its recommendations to the Woman's 
Missionary Union. Miss Heck was returned to 
the presidency in 1895. 

The decision of the president of the Southern 
Theological Seminary to devote one of its mis- 
sionary days to the consideration of the Woman's 
Missionary Union, thus giving the preachers of 
the future a comprehension of, and sympathy with, 
its work, was the forward step that marked the 
year 1896. Several new lines of missionary ac- 
tivity were inaugurated in 1897, and recommenda- 
tions were adopted for the enlargement of the Bible 
work of the Sunday-school Board and for sending 
boxes of supplies to Sunday-school missionaries. 
The Sunbeam work was committed to woman's 
care, and efforts to organize societies in the Terri- 
tories were successful. Letters of greeting were 
sent to all missionaries in the service of the For- 
eign Mission Board. 

The Woman's Missionary Union celebrated its 
tenth anniversary in Norfolk, Va., May, 1898. 
Amid devout thanksgiving for a past of ever- 
increasing usefulness and a future bright with 
hope and encouragement, it closed the first decade 
of its history. At the annual meeting of 1899, 
Miss Heck resigned from the presidency of the 
union, and Mrs. C. A. Stakely, of Washington, D. 
C, was chosen to succeed her. Progress along all 
established lines of work was noted during the 



22 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

year, and several new lines were entered. Letters 
of greeting were sent to the wives of frontier mis- 
sionaries, a Babies' Branch was inaugurated, and, 
through the Woman's Missionary Union, ^9,000 
in annuities was given to the three Boards. With 
the close of the century a new impetus seemed to 
be given to woman's work. Contributions were 
greatly enlarged, and more than ^88,000 raised 
for the three Boards was reported to the Conven- 
tion of 1 90 1. Three thousand five hundred dol- 
lars, the gift of Southern Baptist women through 
the Woman's Missionary Union, laid the founda- 
tion of a much-needed church building and loan 
fund for the Home Mission Board. The Woman's 
Missionary Union entered into hearty co-operation 
with the committee having in charge new century 
plans, and endeavored to carry out the sugges- 
tions of the committee by aiding pastors to hold 
new century meetings 'in their churches and en- 
deavoring to increase the number of women's 
mission societies. The growth of the work during 
the past year is probably due in large measure to 
these efforts. 

The success of the past, the prosperity of the 
present, and the bright outlook for the future, are 
as one voice urging the Baptist women of the 
South to go forward with the watchword ever 
before them, ''For God and home and every 
land." 



Ill 

BIBLE AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 

FOR several years after the organization of the 
Southern Baptist Convention a reluctance 
was felt to separate in Bible operations from the 
American and Foreign Bible Society, which then 
embraced the whole country. The Convention 
therefore entrusted its Bible work to the Mission 
Boards, especially to the Domestic Mission Board. 
So early as 1849 it was evident that the work of 
Bible distribution had but an incidental and very 
subordinate place in the operations of the Domes- 
tic Mission Board. During the previous three 
years only about $1,500 had been contributed for 
this purpose, and $1,000 of this amount had been 
furnished by the Virginia and Foreign Bible So- 
ciety. The Domestic Mission Board earnestly de- 
sired the Convention to recommend some plan by 
which the churches might be awakened to the 
importance of this object. No lasting result could 
be expected from the preaching of its missionaries 
in destitute sections if they could not leave Bibles 
and Testaments in the homes of the people to 
carry on the work they had only begun. 

23 



24 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

It was not deemed advisable, at this time, to 
institute a new Board, but two years later, in 
185 1, the matter was reconsidered and a Bible 
Board was established. The committee on Bible 
distribution, of which Dr. J. B. Jeter was chair- 
man, stated that the Baptists of the South were 
contributing less to this important department of 
Christian usefulness than their resources would 
justify and the needs of the world imperatively 
demanded. That they were doing less than in 
former years was attributable not to a diminution 
of means, nor liberality, nor interest in the work, 
but to the want of some central and efficient 
organization for combining the energies, securing 
the confidence, and eliciting the beneficence of 
the whole denomination. It was evident that the 
Mission Boards, occupied in the cultivation of 
their own fields, could not give this department 
the attention its importance demanded. The com- 
mittee advised the creation of a new Board as the 
best way to improve the situation, the Board hav- 
ing full authority to appoint agents, collect funds, 
receive bequests, and co-operate with the Boards 
of the Convention and other Bible and Mission 
Boards in the circulation of the Scriptures in the 
most faithful versions of our own and foreign lan- 
guages. The new Board was constituted under 
the name of the Bible Board of the Southern Bap- 
tist Convention, and located in Nashville, Tenn. 



BIBLE AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 25 

This Board entered upon an arduous task beset 
by many difficulties. The Baptists of the South 
had almost lost sight of the importance of Bible 
work, and a majority of the States had ceased to 
do anything for it. Only a few of them had any 
organization for Bible distribution, and most of 
these were nearly extinct. Virginia and Alabama 
were the only States with Bible societies co- 
operating to any extent with the Boards of the 
Convention. The Virginia society was circulat- 
ing the Bible to a limited degree by means of the 
State missionaries and stood ready to help the 
Foreign Mission Board. The Alabama society 
was occupied mainly in furnishing the missionaries 
of the Domestic Mission Board copies of the 
Scriptures for circulation within their fields. No 
other Bible work was being done except what the 
Bethel Association was doing within its own 
bounds in Kentucky and Tennessee and through 
the American and Foreign Bible Society. The 
churches of the West and Southwest were awakened 
from their apathy upon the Bible question by the 
agitation of the subject of revision. Many mem- 
bers espoused the cause of the Bible Union as a 
revision organization, and, without considering its 
complex character, became life-members. They 
were thus indifferent or made neutral as to all 
other Bible interests. 

The aim of the Bible Board was to have an 



26 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

organization in each State, either in the form of 
a Board of the State Convention or a Bible So- 
ciety auxiHary to the Bible Board, and that each 
State in a position to do so should take the direc- 
tion of the Bible interests within its bounds. The 
wealthy States, besides supplying their own wants, 
were expected to send up to the Bible Board all 
surplus funds for use in the destitute States and 
Territories and to supply the needs of the Foreign 
Mission Board. Virginia and Alabama promptly 
declared themselves auxiliary to the Bible Board, 
and Maryland, Georgia, and Mississippi soon fell 
into line, other States co-operating to a greater or 
less extent. 

The pestilence which swept over so many of the 
Southern States in 1854 was followed by financial 
depression that affected in some measure all the in- 
terests of the Convention, but it was especially dis- 
astrous to the Bible Board. Recently created, it 
was not so generally known and recognized as a 
regular object of beneficence. In some of the 
States there had never been any practical recogni- 
tion of it as a denominational institution. An- 
other reason why the receipts of the Board and its 
consequent sphere of usefulness were limited was 
the fact that it had no agents. This was partly 
due to the difficulty of securing suitable and effi- 
cient men and partly to the desire of the Board 
that each State should have its own Bible organi- 



BIBLE AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 2/ 

zation auxiliary to the Board, and that these socie- 
ties should employ their own agents and superin- 
tend their own work. Most of the funds received 
were unsolicited free-will offerings. 

The Convention of 1855 instructed the Bible 
Board, in all future appointments of colporters, to 
endeavor to negotiate such an arrangement with 
other publication societies as would combine the 
dissemination of their publications with the Holy 
Scriptures. Since the Bible Board preferred to 
accomplish its work through the State organiza- 
tions it could only recommend the instructions of 
the Convention to these organizations. The Ala- 
bama Baptist Bible Society had already raised a 
fund for the purchase of books and soon estab- 
lished a depository and changed its name to the 
Alabama Baptist Bible and Colporter Society. It 
became a model for all societies organized for 
similar purposes and increased in prosperity and 
usefulness, taking a firmer hold upon the hearts of 
the people and infusing new energy into the 
churches. The North Carolina Baptist Bible and 
Publication Society, from its organization, com- 
bined the distribution of Bibles with denomina- 
tional and other religious books. It was a well- 
managed and efficient body, but its capital was 
insufficient for the great work of spreading Chris- 
tian literature throughout the State, although the 
Board reported to the Convention of 1857 contri- 



2S MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

butions almost three times as large as those of 
any previous year. Almost all of the work of the 
Board was accomplished through its permanent 
auxiliaries, though contributions were received 
from States having neither Bible society nor 
Board. 

The political and financial upheaval incident to 
the breaking out of the Civil War had a most dis- 
astrous effect upon the Bible Board. It was left 
to battle with untoward circumstances almost un- 
aided, and when Nashville fell into the hands of 
the Union army all communication with its con- 
stituency was cut off. Prior to this time the 
Board had contracted for twenty thousand copies 
of the New Testament, pocket edition, for distri- 
bution in the army. About fourteen thousand 
copies were distributed between the months of 
September, 1861, and February, 1862, when the 
Union forces occupied Nashville. The Board 
continued to hold meetings, though it could ac- 
complish very little and its secretary had entered 
the army. The report forwarded to the Conven- 
tion of 1863 was a meagre one, and was never 
received by that body. 

Meanwhile the Convention of 1861 had ap- 
pointed a committee to inquire into the possibility 
of effecting a union between the Bible Board and 
the Southern Baptist Publication Society, but 
before the Bible Board could be consulted all 



BIBLE AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 29 

intercourse with Nashville was cut off and the 
end proposed was unattainable. This committee 
decided that the Bible cause could be as effectually 
conducted under the direction of the other Boards 
of the Convention as by a separate organization, 
and recommended that the Bible Board be abol- 
ished. The report of the committee was adopted, 
and the Bible Board passed out of existence under 
stress of circumstances which precluded any dis- 
cussion of the wisdom of either initiation or dis- 
continuance. 

The year that witnessed the dissolution of the 
Bible Board witnessed also the formation of a 
Sunday-school and Publication Board. This Board 
was located at Greenville, S. C, and had for its 
president, Basil Manly, Jr. Its first meeting was 
held May i8, 1863. An address was issued to the 
Baptists of the Confederate States, setting forth 
the reasons which were believed to have decided 
the Convention to organize a Sunday-school Board, 
indicating the plans which the Board had formed, 
and asking for voluntary agents and general help. 
The appeal met with encouragement. Collections 
were taken at churches. Associations, and State 
Conventions, the first, amounting to ^3,000, being 
received from the General Association of Vir- 
ginia, which met in June, 1863. The denomina- 
tional papers commended the Sunday-school cause 
and the efforts of the new organization, and the 



30 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Sunday-school Boards existing in some of the 
States expressed their willingness to co-operate 
with it. 

The Board realized that great difficulties encom- 
passed the work committed to it and that some 
devoted adherents of the Sunday-school cause 
thought that, under the unusual circumstances of 
the times, such an organization could accomplish 
little. It was careful to attempt only what seemed 
most important and most practicable, intending to 
extend operations as the way opened. The work 
was new and untried, and, desiring to avoid expense, 
the Board determined to rely entirely upon volun- 
tary work. Much time was given by the president 
and corresponding secretary and others, but a 
salaried officer, who could attend to its affairs 
with greater regularity, was found indispensable. 
The Board was fortunate in securing the services 
of Dr. John A. Broadus for a portion of his time, 
and he entered upon his duties as corresponding 
secretary, October i, 1863. 

Soon after the organization of the Board the 
president sent a request to brethren in Baltimore, 
asking that they arrange for the purchase of 
twenty-five thousand Testaments for the use of 
Sunday-schools. Dr. Richard Fuller forwarded 
Doctor Manly's letter to the secretary of the 
American Bible Society, and that society promptly 
and generously tendered twenty-five thousand Tes- 



BIBLE AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 3 1 

taments to the Sunday-school Board as a donation. 
The spirit in which the gift was made is evinced 
in the following expressions from a letter addressed 
by Dr. W. J. R. Taylor, corresponding secretary 
of the American Bible Society, to Doctor Fuller. 
He said: " I assure you that we have acted in this 
matter with prompt and willing hearts, and we 
trus^ that, although Mr. Manly authorized you to 
negotiate for the purchase of these volumes, the 
Board of which he is president will be pleased to 
accept them, and that the blessing of God may go 
with every volume to every child for whom it is de- 
signed." The books were forwarded at once under 
a flag of truce. The Board declined to accept the 
Testaments as a gift, but acknowledged the Chris- 
tian courtesy, said it would receive and distribute 
them, and would pay for them when commercial 
intercourse became practicable. The books were 
divided among the accessible States from Virginia 
to Mississippi, and were nearly all sold. A box 
of fourteen hundred, destined for some section 
hitherto inaccessible, was in Richmond when it 
fell into the hands of the Union army. The sale 
of Testaments was restricted to Sunday-schools of 
the Baptist denomination, and a nominal price 
of ten cents was charged for them. When this 
supply was exhausted the Board could no longer 
furnish them. 

The first publications of the Board were a Con- 



32 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

federate Sunday-school hymn book and a prize 
essay by Rev. George B. Taylor, entitled " Hints 
for Originating and Conducting Sunday-schools." 
A monthly paper for children, called ** The Child's 
Index," was also issued, and every effort made to 
give it wide circulation. Early in 1864 the Board 
decided to employ a general Sunday-school mis- 
sionary for each State, who should seek to arbuse 
the churches to the importance of Sunday-school 
work. These missionaries were to procure such 
assistance, voluntary or paid, as might be found 
practicable. It proved difficult to employ suitable 
men in the several States. The demand for min- 
isters in regular pastoral work was greater than in 
times of peace. Many had entered the army as 
chaplains, a number had entered military service 
as officers or privates, and some felt it their duty 
to devote themselves to secular pursuits at home. 
Death was continually robbing the ranks of the 
ministry, and no new recruits were being enrolled. 
It was not strange, therefore, that it was difficult 
to procure workers for the various departments of 
Christian enterprise. The services, however, of 
several most capable men were secured for Sun- 
day-school work : Rev. William E. Hatcher in 
Virginia, Rev. J. A. Chambliss in South Carolina, 
Rev. W. T. Brantly in Georgia, and Rev. W. E. 
Chambliss in Alabama. These men, though their 
efforts were confined to a few months, reported 



BIBLE AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 33 

generous contributions. The uncertainty of the 
mails and the confusion that reigned throughout 
the South made it difficult to obtain regular reports 
of their efforts in other directions. 

The Board had laid plans for a more extensive 
system of missionary effort for 1865, but the dis- 
asters of the winter and spring made it more diffi- 
cult than ever before to find missionaries, and its 
finances were not in a condition to pay salary 
enough for their support. The work of the Board 
was practically suspended for several months after 
the close of the war. Its first effort toward re- 
viving that work was the publication of a small 
monthly paper entitled ''Kind Words for the Sun- 
day-school Children," which was issued in Janu- 
ary, 1866, and soon attained a circulation of nearly 
twenty-five thous-and copies. 

The Board resumed more active operations im- 
mediately after the meeting of the Southern Bap- 
tist Convention in May, 1865. Its condition and 
prospects were not flattering. The treasury was 
not only empty, but an assumed indebtedness for 
Testaments of over ;^2,ooo hung over it. Part of 
the stock had been sold for Confederate currency, 
which was worthless. Some had been consumed 
in the burning of Columbia, some had been lost in 
transportation, and the little remaining was of 
such inferior material and so unattractive in ap- 
pearance as to be unsalable. The Board was 

c 



34 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

without plates from which to publish and had no 
adequate means for distribution if books had been 
at hand. The people were discouraged and im- 
poverished, some verging on actual want, and it 
was difficult to secure any response to appeals for 
contributions. 

The first act of the newly elected corresponding 
secretary, Rev. C. C. Bitting, was to issue an 
address which was widely distributed by circular 
and newspaper, but, so far as was known, not a 
dollar was received in response. He then found 
it necessary to visit churches and Associations. 
In 1866, as in 1863, the first contribution was 
received from the General Association of Virginia. 
In the embarrassed state of its finances the Board 
decided to accept as a donation the Testaments 
which the Bible Society had always considered as 
such. On conferring with the Bible Society it 
was learned that the amount had been entered on 
the books of the society as a donation, and the 
bill had been sent reluctantly and only in defer- 
ence to the request of Doctor Broadus, and be- 
cause the Board of managers realized that a feeling 
of honor and obligation lay beneath it. The debt 
was soon canceled, and the Sunday-school Board 
passed a resolution accepting the donation and 
expressing sincere gratitude to the Board of man- 
agers of the American Bible Society for their 
whole course in the matter and for the generos- 



BIBLE AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 35 

ity and courtesy which the society had exhibited 
toward the needy people of the South. 

As soon as practicable the Board issued a num- 
ber of hymn books, question books, and other 
literature for Sunday-school use, and endeavored 
to lay the foundation for a permanent and exten- 
sive work, adapted and competent to supply the 
needs of the Baptist Sunday-schools throughout 
the field of the Convention. 

A proposition from the Southern Baptist Sab- 
bath-school Union to unite its interests with those 
of the Sunday-school Board was received by the 
Convention of 1867. The consolidation was ef- 
fected, and the Board removed to Memphis, Tenn., 
in 1868. Rev. S. H. Ford was elected president, 
and Rev. T. C. Teasdale, corresponding secretary. 
The change of location naturally retarded the 
work of the Board. In addition, its affairs were 
in a complicated condition, and many of its con- 
stituency were disposed to abandon it altogether. 
To increase the difficulties of its position the whole 
country was suffering from a financial pressure 
unparalleled in the past history of the South and 
West. The old and well-established organizations 
found themselves embarrassed, and this Board 
had to operate in a new and, to a great extent, 
uncultivated field, while the sections from which 
aid was expected manifested little sympathy with 
its operations. Notwithstanding these difficulties 



36 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

and discouragements, so prudently did the Board 
conduct its affairs that in 1869 its indebtedness 
was largely lessened and all its operations were 
self-sustaining. In order to prevent any rival in- 
terest in the field, the Board purchased a small 
paper entitled ''The Child's Delight," edited by 
Dr. Samuel Boykin, of Macon, Ga., whose services 
were secured as associate editor with the cor- 
responding secretary, Mr. Teasdale. 

After a checkered career of ten years the Sun- 
day-school Board was united to the Domestic and 
Indian Mission Board by a resolution passed by the 
Convention of 1873. The resolution provided for 
the publication of "Kind Words" and the stere- 
otyped books of the Sunday-school Board, but 
without pecuniary liability on the part of the Con- 
vention. 

Sunday-school and publication interests did not 
become an integral part of the work of the Domes- 
tic Board, and their influence and efficiency were 
very limited. For almost a score of years the 
struggling Sunday-school interests of the South 
were largely dependent upon the American Bap- 
tist Publication Society. As the closing decade 
of the nineteenth century drew near the question 
of a Southern Sunday-school organization began 
to be agitated and at the Convention of 1891, held 
in Birmingham, Ala., a committee consisting of 
one member from each State was appointed to 



BIBLE AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 3/ 

consider the report of the Sunday-school commit- 
tee. This committee, of which Dr. J. M. Frost 
was chairman, brought in a report, of which the 
following are the salient points : 

(2) We recommend the adoption of this suggestion to 
create a new Board, to be called the Sunday-school Board 
of the Southern Baptist Convention, to have a correspond- 
ing secretary, and to be nominated from year to year as the 
other two Boards are. 

(3) That said Board be entrusted with the Convention' s 
Sunday-school series, and be authorized to use their best 
efforts to improve the series and to increase the circulation, 
but shall not engage in any other publication work, except 
as hereinafter provided. 

(14) That the Board be entrusted with the Sunday-school 
interests in our territory, and be requested to gather statis- 
tical information as to the condition of our Sunday-schools, 
to see what can be done toward increasing their number and 
efficiency, and by annual report to bring the whole Sunday- 
school work fully before the sessions of the Convention. 

(18) The Board in its work will aid mission Sunday- 
schools by contributions of literature and money; doing this, 
however, through State organizations, and using for this pur- 
pose the net proceeds of the business, together with all con- 
tributions therefor, provided that, while the secretary may, 
when necessary, raise funds for the promotion of the Sun- 
day-school interests committed to the Board, no system of 
State or sub-agencies shall be organized. 

In conclusion, your committee, in its long and earnest con- 
sideration of this whole matter in all its environments, have 
been compelled to take account of the well-known fact, that 
there are widely divergent views held among us by brethren 
equally earnest, consecrated, and devoted to the best in- 



38 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

terests of the Master's kingdom. It is, therefore, recom- 
mended that the fullest freedom of choice be accorded to 
every one as to what literature he will use or support, and 
that no brother be disparaged in the slightest degree on ac- 
count of what he may do in the exercise of his right as 
Christ' s freeman. But we would earnestly urge all brethren 
to give this Board a fair consideration, and in no case to 
obstruct it in the great work assigned it by this Convention. 

Apprehensive of continued friction that seemed 
imminent from the sentiments more or less sup- 
pressed on the part of many members of the Con- 
vention, Doctor Broadus came forward in a concil- 
iatory speech and urged that for the sake of peace 
the report be adopted. The question was immedi- 
ately called for and the report adopted. Thus the 
Sunday-school Board located at Nashville, Tenn., 
came into existence. At its first meeting the 
Board unanimously elected Lansing Burrows, d. d., 
of Augusta, Ga., as its corresponding secretary, but 
he declined to accept the position. The services 
of J. M. Frost, D. D., pastor of Leigh Street 
Church, Richmond, Va., were then secured as 
corresponding secretary of the Board, to which 
position was added the editorship of the " Conven- 
tion Teacher." S. Boykin, d. d., was retained as 
editor for the other publications in the Sunday- 
school series. 

During the second year of its operations the 
Sunday-school Board donated in literature to mis- 



BIBLE AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 39 

sion schools over ;^i,ooo and appropriated more 
than ^3,000 in cash to the interest of Sunday- 
school missions in the different States. In accord- 
ance with the instructions of the Convention in 
creating this Board, the appropriations were made 
through and in conjunction with existing State 
organizations. In December, 1892, Doctor Frost 
resigned to accept the pastorate of the First Bap- 
tist Church of Nashville, and T. P. Bell, d. d., 
the Assistant Corresponding Secretary of the For- 
eign Mission Board, was elected to succeed him. 
By securing the observance of Missionary Day in 
the Sunday-schools the Sunday-school Board linked 
itself to the interests of the Home and Foreign 
Boards, the amounts collected being sent to the 
Sunday-school Board for distribution between the 
other two Boards. The day was first observed in 
1894, and met with such success that it has be- 
come a permanent institution. The programmes 
sent out by the Sunday-school Board for the ob- 
servance of Missionary Day are prepared by the 
Women's Missionary Union. 

Doctor Bell resigned the secretaryship of the 
Board in 1896, and the vacancy was immediately 
filled by the election of Doctor Frost, who had 
served the Board as its secretary and for three 
years previous had been its president. At this 
time a proposal was received from the American 
Baptist Publication Society, at Philadelphia, "look- 



40 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

ing to the unification of publishing interests and 
the securing of greater harmony in the publication 
of Sunday-school literature." The plan did not 
commend itself to the Sunday-school Board and the 
proposal was declined, the Board ** deeming such 
alliance neither desirable nor feasible." 

In 1897 the Board made an effort to introduce 
the Home Department into the Sunday-schools of 
the South and with some degree of success. The 
Home Department endeavors to carry the work of 
the Sunday-school as to its lesson and missionary 
study into the homes in order to reach those who 
do not attend its sessions. The year 1898 marked 
several forward movements. Bible Day was first 
observed by the Sunday-schools in the summer of 
that year, the programme for the day being pre- 
pared by the Woman's Missionary Union. An 
almanac was published that contained, in addition 
to the calendar, much denominational information, 
and set forth in attractive form all the work of the 
Convention. Dr. Lansing Burrows edited this 
work. Another advance was the publication of a 
book entitled ''The Story of Yates the Missionary," 
by Dr. Charles E, Taylor. The Board set aside 
^500 for the publication of books, calling it the 
Matthew T. Yates Publishing Fund. Another en- 
dowment of ^500 was given by B. C. Garvey, of 
Kentucky, in honor of his wife and is known as the 
Eva Garvey Publishing Fund. These endowments. 



BIBLE AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 4 1 

with others as they may be added, will constitute 
a permanent publishing fund. 

In November, 1899, Doctor Boykin was called 
to rest from his labors and accorded the well done 
of the faithful servant. His position was filled by 
Rev. I. J. Van Ness, who had formerly been a 
member of the Board and the editor of the "Young 
People's Leader." In the spring of 1901, Rev. B. 
W. Spillman, an experienced Sunday-school worker 
of North Carolina, was employed as field secretary 
and entered upon his duties in June. His work is 
to promote the Sunday-school cause in whatever 
way may be open to him and in accordance with 
the wishes and co-operation of the brethren. 

The Sunday-school Board claims to be a mis- 
sionary organization and states that "its work is 
largely if not altogether educational. This work 
is done through the periodicals, through the distri- 
bution of books and tracts, through Missionary 
Day exercises, and through whatever means it can 
introduce to make the work of the Board effective 
in setting forth the mission doctrine, awakening 
the mission spirit, and quickening the mission life." 



IV 

THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 

THE great empire of China, with its vast area, 
its teeming millions, and its immeasurable 
needs, has touched the heart of the Christian world 
and quickened it to a depth of interest that neither 
difficulty, danger, nor death has been able to 
quench. Before her doors were open to the for- 
eigner, Robert Morrison had forced an entrance 
and had cleared the way for future missionaries 
by preparing a grammar and dictionary and trans- 
lating the Scriptures into the Chinese language. 

To the Triennial Convention belongs the honor 
of having sent out the first American Baptist mis- 
sionary to China, Rev. J. Lewis Shuck, of Vir- 
ginia, who sailed under its appointment, September 
22, 1835. ^^- Shuck's call to mission work was 
no uncertain one. Shortly after his conversion he 
attended a missionary meeting, and, when contri- 
butions were called for, put into the box a card 
with "myself" written upon it. This was his 
offering. He was set apart as a missionary in the 
First Baptist Church of Richmond, on September 
10, 1835, a few days after his marriage to Miss 

42 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 43 

Henrietta Hall, of Virginia. Just one year after 
their departure from America, Mr. and Mrs. Shuck 
landed in Macao and established the first American 
Baptist mission in China. They remained there 
until 1842, when they removed to Hong Kong for 
better protection, the fortunes of war having trans- 
ferred that island to the British government. In 
Hong Kong Mr. Shuck built two chapels, estab- 
lished a school, and preached each Sabbath in 
Chinese and English. After Canton was opened 
to foreigners he and his wife took up their resi- 
dence in that city, where Mr. Shuck organized 
what is known as the First Baptist Church of 
Canton, and, in connection with Mr. I. J. Roberts, 
laid the foundation of the South China Mission. 
After the death of Mrs. Shuck, in 1844, Mr. 
Shuck returned to America, arriving in February, 
1846. 

Toward the needy and promising field of China 
the attention of the Foreign Mission Board was 
directed immediately after its organization. Efforts 
were made to secure suitable men as missionaries, 
and in August, 1845, Samuel C. Clopton and 
George Pearcy presented themselves to the Board. 
Both were Virginians, graduates of Columbian 
College, and men of piety and ability. With a 
view to increased usefulness, they remained for 
several months at the medical college in Rich- 
mond in order to attend lectures. At the first 



44 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention, 
held in June, 1846, these two young men were set 
apart for mission work in China, and, with their 
wives, sailed for their fields a few days later. Rev. 
J. L. Shuck and his Chinese assistant, Yong Sen 
Sang, were present at the Convention and assisted 
in the designation services, making a fine im- 
pression. Mr. Shuck addressed the Convention, 
giving much valuable information in regard to the 
Chinese Empire, the condition of the Chinese, and 
the prospect for success in missionary work. 

Yong Sen Sang was introduced, and with easy 
grace and dignity expressed his gratitude to God 
and to the Christians in this country for sending 
the gospel to China, and said he had one request 
to make, and that was that all the disciples in 
their prayers morning and evening would plead 
for China. There are few now living who remem- 
ber this first Chinese convert who visited America, 
yet to many of us has come down from parent or 
grandparent some knowledge of the tall, spare 
man, with open, benign countenance and affable 
manners, who first demonstrated to American 
Christians the transforming power of the gospel 
in a Chinaman's soul. Though untiring in his 
efforts to spread the gospel in China, he was 
never aggressive, and in the reformation of his 
country he may be characterized as a Melanchthon 
rather than a Luther. 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSIO^• 45 

Mr. Shuck had come home deeply impressed 
with the importance of erecting a house of wor- 
ship in Canton. He published an appeal, signed 
by himself and three native helpers, in which he 
said no religion was respectable in the eyes of the 
Chinese unless connected with a public building. 
There were in Canton one hundred and eighty 
heathen temples, besides pagodas and ancestral 
halls. In company with Yong Sen Sang, Mr. 
Shuck traveled through the South to collect 
funds, and everywhere met with a ready response 
to his appeals. When the Board decided to open 
a mission in Shanghai, Mr. Shuck was transferred 
to that field, as his experience was deemed valua- 
ble in opening a new station. The amount he 
had collected for his chapel fund, ^5,000, was 
then appropriated to a chapel in Shanghai. 

When Messrs. Clopton and Pearcy arrived in 
Canton they found Mr. I. J. Roberts in charge of 
the work. Mr. Roberts had gone out to China 
under the auspices of the Roberts Fund Society, 
of which ;^30,ooo contributed by himself formed 
the basis. As the income of this fund was not 
sufficient for his support he connected himself 
with the Triennial Convention. A few months 
after the organization of the Southern Baptist 
Convention he offered himself to that body. The 
first years of his missionary life were spent at 
Macao, where he had a congregation of lepers, 



46 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

and at Hong Kong in company with Mr. Shuck. 
In May, 1844, he opened a mission in Canton, 
being the first American Baptist, if not the first 
Baptist missionary, in that city. He soon gathered 
a church of six or seven members, several of whom 
became useful in proclaiming the gospel. He pro- 
cured a floating chapel, where regular services 
were maintained, and had published and circu- 
lated thousands of tracts and portions of the 
Scriptures. 

Messrs. Clopton and Pearcy set themselves dili- 
gently to the study of the language, and were just 
beginning to use it to advantage and to experience 
the joy of preaching the gospel in a foreign tongue, 
when the former was stricken with fever and died. 
A few months later Mrs. Clopton and her little 
boy sailed for America. The missionary home 
was destined soon to be broken up. Mr. Pearcy's 
health failed rapidly. It seemed as if he would 
follow Mr. Clopton, and, with his wife and Mr. 
Francis C. Johnson, who had just arrived in Can- 
ton, he went to Hong Kong to spend the summer 
of 1847. There was no permanent improvement 
in his condition, and, by the advice of his physi- 
cian, he removed to Shanghai, and was soon after 
transferred to that mission. 

Mr. Johnson had been appointed by the Board 
to undertake the special work of instructing native 
preachers, its attention having been called to this 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 47 

need. He had exceptional capacity for acquiring 
languages, and in an incredibly short time began 
to address the people. He endeavored to become 
thoroughly identified with the Chinese in life and 
thought, even to pray and meditate, naturally and 
mechanically, in the Chinese language. He is 
said to have kept his diary in Chinese. Through 
lack of care his health failed utterly, and he was 
advised to return to America. 

On the twenty-third of February, 1 849, Mr. and 
Mrs. B. W. Whilden landed in Canton, coming as 
a much-needed reinforcement to the mission, deci- 
mated by the sickness and death of missionaries. 
Mrs. Whilden possessed an ardent missionary 
spirit, and it was in answer to her many prayers 
that her husband offered himself to the Board. 
Both were South Carolinians, and in the old First 
Church, of Charleston, Mr. Whilden was set apart 
to preach Christ among the heathen. The meet- 
ing was solemn and impressive, and bore testi- 
mony to the deep interest felt by the people in 
the cause of foreign missions. Scarcely a year of 
service in her chosen field was permitted Mrs. 
Whilden, for in February, 1850, she entered into 
rest, leaving her missionary zeal and enthusiasm 
as a precious legacy to her children, two of whom 
in later years took up the work for which she laid 
down her life. A few months after his wife's 
death, Mr. Whilden returned to bring his children 



48 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

to the homeland. As Mr. Roberts had preceded 
him to America, he left the mission in charge of 
Rev. J. B. French, of the American Board, with 
whom the most fraternal relations had been sus- 
tained. During Mr. Whilden's absence, Mr. Rob- 
erts' connection with the Board was severed. 
Though a man of zeal and devotion, he was erratic 
and imprudent, and it was difficult for his fellow- 
missionaries to maintain harmonious relations with 
him. He remained in China as an independent 
missionary for a number of years, but returned to 
America in 1866, and resided at Upper Alton, 
Illinois, where he died in 1871, from leprosy con- 
tracted during his missionary life. 

Mr. Whilden returned to Canton in 1853. He 
found that Mr. French had faithfully and disin- 
terestedly administered the affairs of the mission 
during his absence, and he was cheered by an 
increasing interest. The mission was reinforced 
by the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Gaillard in 
the summer of 1854, and, when Mr. Whilden was 
compelled to return to America early in the fol- 
lowing year, Mr. Gaillard was left in charge of the 
work. He felt deeply the responsibility of the 
mission, great indeed, with an imperfect knowledge 
of the language, and no American associates. In 
company with Yong Seen Sang, who had returned 
from Shanghai, he engaged extensively in the dis- 
tribution of the Scriptures, not only in Canton 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 49 

but in a number of other towns. In one of these, 
a town of five or six thousand inhabitants, they 
found a disciple by the name of Lye, who told 
them he had been baptized by Mr. Shuck about 
ten years before. He seemed very glad to see 
them and said he had tried to teach the gospel to 
his fellow-townsmen, but none of them would be- 
lieve it. He had only a small part of the New 
Testament to guide him in his Christian life. 
Services were conducted daily at two chapels in 
Canton, the attendance averaging from fifty to 
one hundred at one chapel and from one to two 
hundred at the other. Three schools were main- 
tained, with an enrollment of sixty-nine. 

After more than a year of lonely, untiring effort, 
Mr. Gaillard welcomed Rev. Roswell R Graves in 
August, 1856. Mr. Graves was a native of Balti- 
more, Md., where he was baptized by Dr. Richard 
Fuller. His heart was turned toward China by 
hearing Mr. Shuck tell of its four hundred million 
people without the knowledge of Jesus. With a 
view to mission work he took the degree of doc- 
tor of medicine. The missionaries thought the 
prospect encouraging, but hostilities breaking out 
between China and England dissipated the hope- 
ful prospect. Nearly all the city outside of the 
walls was destroyed, the buildings occupied by the 
missionaries as a chapel were burned, and they 
were compelled to remove to Macao, where they 

D 



50 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

were advised to remain until there was a cessation 
of hostilities. The year i860 was one of great 
prosperity. Thirty-seven were baptized on pro- 
fession of faith, and the membership of the church 
numbered fifty-eight. Mr. Gaillard wrote of the 
prospects for the future : " They are as good as 
the promises of God are sure, if we can only take 
hold of the promises. The Spirit of the Lord has 
been with us all the year." 

In July, i860, the mission was reinforced by 
the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. John Griffith Schilling. 
Mr. Schilling was a German by birth, but was 
reared and educated in America. His home was 
in Maryland, where he was baptized by Dr. Benja- 
min Griffith. He was a man of high moral and 
religious character, with an active mind and a 
vigorous constitution, naturally adapted to mis- 
sionary life. The mission had not been so strongly 
manned for a number of years, but it was only for 
a brief period. These were years of great trial in 
the homeland; war was desolating the South, and 
retrenchment on the part of the missionaries was 
necessary. They gave up one-fifth of their sala- 
ries, and would have sacrificed their comfort yet 
more rather than leave their chosen field. In this 
period of extreme exigency the London Missionary 
Society made a generous appropriation of about 
$500, to be returned or not, as the future condi- 
tion of the Board might determine. Doctor Graves 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 5 1 

relinquished one-third of his allowance, though the 
full sum was not more than sufficient to meet his 
actual needs, and Mr. Gaillard wrote : " If neces- 
sity should compel you to call home any of the 
missionaries I beg that I may be the last, though 
I may be the least. I have no desire and no idea 
of ever seeing America again, and when I go to 
heaven I want a whole army of this people to go 
with me." Mr. Gaillard was not permitted again 
to see America. In July, 1862, a fierce typhoon 
swept over the city, destroying ten thousand lives, 
and he was crushed to death beneath the falling 
timbers of his house. He was a most efficient 
and successful missionary, and had won the esteem 
and love of the Chinese. 

Mr. Graves had opened a new station at Shiu 
Hing, a large city and formerly the capital of two 
provinces. Here he established a church and 
actively engaged in the practice of medicine, which 
he regarded as a valuable means of gaining access 
to the people. When the church at Canton was 
deprived of Mr. Gaillard 's leadership he was re- 
quested to take charge of it, at the same time 
having the oversight of the church at Shiu Hing. 
The close of the year 1864 found Mr. Graves en- 
tirely alone. In January, Mrs. Schilling passed to 
her reward and her husband was forced to return 
to America with his children. In December, Doc- 
tor Graves lost his wife, the widow of Mr. Gaillard, 



52 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

to whom he had been married the year previous. 
Aided by eight native assistants, however, he con- 
tinued his labors with unabated zeal. A new- 
station was opened at Wu Chaw, a city of much 
importance two hundred miles from Canton, and 
with an appropriation from the Medical Missionary 
Society he was enabled to maintain a dispensary 
there and also at Shiu Hing. 

The year 1867 afforded an opportunity to bring 
the truths of Christianity to many who had never 
heard them. About twenty thousand students, 
with their friends and followers, assembled in 
Canton for the triennial examinations. An effort 
was made to reach these men by preaching services, 
day and night, in the chapels and on the streets, 
by offering books for sale, and distributing tracts. 
Mindful of the fact that all external means are 
vain without the influence of the Spirit, a morning 
prayer meeting was held to ask God's blessing on 
these efforts. These literary men were the most 
influential class in the country, but not the most 
hopeful in their attitude toward Christianity. Two 
interesting conversions were noted by Doctor 
Graves in his report for 1868. The father of one 
of the converts baptized at Wu Chaw was the first 
instance in his experience where a father was 
brought to Christ through the influence of his 
son. The other was a woman whose heart was 
opened by answered prayer. She besought her 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 53 

idols in vain for the return of an absent son, and, 
at the suggestion of a Christian woman, put away 
her idols and prayed to the Christian's God. Her 
son's return confirmed her faith, and a year later 
she was hopefully converted. 

Doctor .Graves devoted much time to teaching 
and training colporters and assistants, believing 
that the future of the mission was largely de- 
pendent on them. Two hours a day were usually 
given to the Bible class for preachers. The sacri- 
fice the assistants were ready to make in order to 
proclaim the truth was well illustrated by A Zung, 
a young man who had served several years as a 
colporter, but went home to engage in business. 
His heart could not rest while he thought of the 
millions of his countrymen dying without Christ, 
and, though he was making more than the salary 
of an assistant, his interest in money getting ceased, 
and he left his business to give himself up wholly 
to the service of Christ. Doctor Graves felt that 
one of the most pressing needs of the mission was 
a chapel, and so effectually did he urge this need 
that some friends of the cause in Baltimore fur- 
nished one-half of the necessary amount. The 
Board supplemented this, and the chapel was built 
and formally opened on the fifteenth of May, 1869. 

After thirteen years of faithful and exhausting 
toil, Doctor Graves sailed for America in 1870, 
bringing with him a Chinaman to labor among his 



54 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

countrymen in California. Doctor Graves also 
spent some time in this work at the invitation of 
the American Baptist Home Mission Society, by 
which his service is still gratefully remembered. 
The year in which the native pastor, Wong Mui, 
had charge of the mission, was not without fruit- 
age. Seven were baptized into the fellowship of 
the two churches, and their joint contributions 
amounted to eighteen dollars. 

Mr. and Mrs. E. Z. Simmons arrived in Canton 
in February, 1871, and took vigorous hold of the 
work. Mr. Simmons was a native of Mississippi, 
and had served for two years in the Confederate 
army under General Wheeler. After a year and 
a half of lonely missionary life their hearts were 
cheered by the return of Doctor Graves, accom- 
panied by Mr. and Mrs. N. B. Williams and Miss 
Lula Whilden. It was in answer to a mother's 
prayers that her children might spend and be 
spent for the heathen that the two daughters of 
Mrs. B. W. Whilden, Mrs. N. B. Williams and 
Miss Lula Whilden, returned to China to take up 
the work for which their mother had toiled and 
prayed. Miss Whilden entered into missionary 
life with consuming zeal. She seemed to have a 
remarkable faculty for finding out ways of doing 
good, and, in addition to her school duties, she 
became deeply interested in the boat women. 
The Chinese said of her : '' Other missionaries 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 55 

come among us from a sense of duty; Miss Whil- 
den loves the Chinese." 

A few months before his return to China, Doc- 
tor Graves was married to Miss Jane Wormely 
Norris, of Baltimore. Mrs. Graves was a woman- 
of quiet spirit, intelligent zeal, and earnest piety. 
She was soon able to communicate with the women 
in their own language, and won universal love and 
esteem. With Miss Whilden she superintended 
the education of girls, for which some years of 
teaching in Baltimore had well prepared her. The 
boys' school was put in Mr. Williams' charge, his 
firmness, sound judgment, and enthusiasm ad- 
mirably fitting him for this position. He was 
deeply impressed with the care exercised by the 
Chinese churches in the reception of members, 
and thought that in vital godliness the Canton 
church would compare favorably with most of the 
churches at home. 

An outstation was opened in 1873 at Sai Nain, 
an important business center near the junction of 
the North and West rivers. Doctor Graves, as 
well as other missionaries, had tried for years to 
gain a foothold there; but, while baffled in his 
attempts to rent a chapel, he was able to secure a 
place for a dispensary, and, with an appropriation 
from the Medical Missionary Society, to pay the 
rent without expense to the Board. The atten- 
tion of the missionaries was called to the Hakkas, 



56 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

a simple but sturdy mountain people, who, by 
making predatory incursions into the plain, had 
taken possession of a large part of two districts 
near Shiu Hing. One of the native assistants 
went among them and they heard the gospel with 
gladness. After Mr. Simmons finished preaching, 
one day, a Hakka, who had listened very eagerly, 
stopped to talk with him. He had read a tract 
prepared by Doctor Graves and had journeyed 
thirteen days to learn more of the truth. He 
asked Doctor Graves if he had been to heaven, 
and, if not, how could he know all these things so 
well. 

In the spring of 1874 Mr. and Mrs. Simmons 
returned to America on account of the latter's 
impaired health. Still deeply interested in the 
Chinese, they were engaged for some time by the 
Home Mission Society in California. The mission 
sustained another severe loss in the death of Wong 
Mui, the pastor of the Canton church, a vigorous 
and aggressive Christian, who has been called the 
Luther of the Chinese Christians. Mr. and Mrs. 
Williams having returned in 1876, Doctor Graves 
was again the only foreign preacher in the mission. 
His life was a busy one. He was engaged in giv- 
ing Bible instruction, preparing his '* Notes on the 
Parables " and a '' Life of Christ," meeting the de- 
mands of his medical work, and exercising a gen- 
eral oversight of the mission. The outlook was 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 57 

promising, six new stations having been opened for 
the residence of foreigners. 

The Chinese Christians maintained a station of 
their own at San Kiu, a town about fifteen miles 
south of Shiu Hing. A Chinese missionary so- 
ciety rented the house and supported the assistant. 
Their gifts amounted to $i6o during the year, 
most of which came from Demarara and Oregon. 
Lough Fook, a member of the Canton church, 
went to British Guiana as a coolie, that he might 
preach Jesus to his countrymen there. When he 
died in 1884, he left a church of two hundred 
members, contributing ^2,000 annually to missions. 
Doctor Graves described Lough Fook as one of 
the heroes of the Christian faith, and said he was 
a proof of what the grace of God could do for a 
Chinaman and what a Chinaman could do when 
renewed by grace. In Oregon, Dong Gong, a for- 
mer student under Doctor Graves, had gathered a 
little flock of twelve or fifteen persons. The mem- 
bership of the Canton church in 1878 numbered 
one hundred and ninety-one and there were sixty- 
six baptisms during the year, thirty-seven of these 
being in connection with the Tie Chiu church, in 
Hong Kong. 

The year 1880 witnessed bitter persecution at 
Tsing Nue, a station supported by Doctor Graves. 
While the members of the mission were gathered 
for worship the chapel was assaulted by a mob and 



58 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

greatly damaged. The members were stoned and 
injured in many ways, and the assistants had to 
leave the city by night under a guard of soldiers. 
The doorway of the chapel was blocked up and the 
Christians were denied entrance. After several 
months had elapsed Mr. Simmons, who had re. 
turned to China, sent an assistant to try and get 
the chapel back. He gathered a few of the mem- 
bers, pushed the bricks from the doorway, cleared 
away the rubbish, and held a three days' prayer 
meeting, asking God to help them hold the house 
for his glory. He sent to the magistrate and re- 
quested him to issue an order to the people not to 
molest the Christians in their place of worship. 
The officer immediately complied with the request 
and their prayers were answered. Persecution 
tended to the furtherance of the gospel and ten 
were baptized during the year. 

At Tsung Fa, where there had been persecution 
and serious trouble, a chapel was completed which 
was built by the members of the church aided by 
those of the Canton church. This was the first 
chapel built by native members. In February, 
1880, the work at Hong Kong, or on an island 
near by, at Tie Chiu, that had been carried on 
by Mrs. L. W. Johnson and maintained at her own 
charges, was turned over to the Canton mission. 
A new chapel had been erected the year previous 
and the church numbered about one hundred mem- 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 59 

bers, most of whom had been baptized by Doctor 
Graves and Mr. Simmons. December 26, 1882, 
Yong Seen Sang fell asleep in Jesus. He had 
been connected with the Foreign Mission Board 
since 1845 ^^^ had been supported by the Ladies 
Missionary Society of the First Baptist Church of 
Richmond. Faithful to the end, he came to his 
" grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh 
in in his season." 

The year of 1885 was one of severe trial in the 
Canton mission. The Chinese-French War was 
in progress and outbreaks against Christians were 
frequent, though not due entirely to the war. Sev- 
eral of the native Christians were imprisoned and 
suffered great indignities. One of the girls' schools 
was attacked and broken up, the homes of two of 
the members were plundered, and the benches of the 
chapel broken. Notwithstanding the trying times 
through which the mission passed, there was some 
encouragement, and in the midst of hatred, perse- 
cution, and loss, not one member was led to deny 
the faith. In February, 1885, a Chinese Asso- 
ciation was organized, composed of twenty-five 
representatives from six bodies. Mr. Simmons 
was elected moderator, the other officers being 
Chinese. Doctor Graves said of this Association 
that the members, by their punctuality and atten- 
tion to the speakers, set an example that might 
well be followed by many of the Associations at 



60 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

home. The year was also marked by terrible 
floods, but this calamity worked a beneficial result 
to the mission, for the relief afforded the stricken 
districts by the missionaries made the people will, 
ing to hear and accept the gospel and opened wider 
the door of usefulness. There were in 1886 four 
schools for boys and eleven for girls under the care 
of the mission. These schools afforded fine oppor- 
tunities for reaching the mothers and other women 
in their neighborhood, who at weekly examinations 
came in for the Scripture lesson and prayers. 
Miss Young, who had been welcomed to the mis- 
sion in 1884, and some of the Bible women, con- 
ducted a weekly meeting for heathen women and 
in this way many heard the gospel. 

The year 1888 was one of almost equal joy and 
sorrow. Mrs. J. L. Sanford and Miss Henrietta 
North landed in Canton in January and Miss Nellie 
Hartwell in May. They had been engaged in 
work among the Cantonese on the Pacific coast 
and were therefore able at once to be efficient in 
China. Miss North went out as a self-supporting 
missionary, but identified herself with the Canton 
mission. Mrs. Sanford had demonstrated her fit- 
ness for missionary life by nearly six years of 
efficient service. Her interest in missions was 
quickened by reading memoirs of the Judsons, but 
her ideal of the Christian missionary became so 
high that it did not occur to her that one so un- 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 6 1 

worthy and incapable as she considered herself to 
be could be called of God for such responsible 
work. Believing this, she fought against the con- 
viction, while feeling that such a life would be an 
unceasing joy. When the realization came to her 
that God would fit her for whatever service he re- 
quired of her, she gladly surrendered to his will. 

Miss Hartwell was born in China during her 
father's first residence in that country and she had 
been reared in an atmosphere of missions. She 
had assisted her father for several years in the 
Chinese mission in San Francisco and had proved 
a zealous and successful worker. 

The mission at Canton was sorely bereaved by 
the enforced return of Doctor and Mrs. Graves in 
November, 1887, ^^^ by the death of Mrs. Graves 
in San Francisco, April 20, 1888. Through a 
wearing illness of many months she was patient, 
sweet-tempered, and submissive. Even the dis- 
appointment of being unable to reach her old home 
in Baltimore brought no murmur. She said, •* I 
am going to the best home." For sixteen years 
she had devoted herself to the Chinese, leaving 
behind her a work that has endured, and the record 
of a life of self-abnegation and godly consecration. 
In 1889 the mission was made glad by the appoint- 
ment of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas McCloy, of Scotland, 
and Miss Mollie McMinn, of Missouri. Mr. and 
Mrs. McCloy were reared in Presbyterian homes 



62 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

but united with the Baptist church in Glasgow. 
Mr. McCloy went out in the employ of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. He made a number 
of long and arduous journeys into the Kwangtung 
and Kwang Si provinces, often traveling where 
Europeans had not been. After several years of 
service he felt that he could be more useful as a 
teacher and preacher, and accordingly made appli- 
cation to the Foreign Mission Board. He was 
ordained in the Canton Baptist Church, December 
29, 1889. 

Miss McMinn also came from a Pedobaptist 
family, but after reading what she calls '* that Baptist 
Bible," she decided to cast in her lot with Baptists, 
Her early life was full of difficulties and trials that 
fostered independence and self-reliance. She gave 
as her reason for becoming a missionary, " The love 
of Christ constraineth me." In addition to the 
foreign force, which had never been so large, there 
were seventeen native preachers, four colporters, 
and seven Bible women in the Canton mission. 
Two hundred and ninety pupils were enrolled in 
the schools and work among the women was never 
more encouraging. Effort put forth for the Chinese 
in the United States began to make itself felt in 
China. Chinese Christians returning from America 
became an important factor in the working force at 
Canton, introducing an element of intelligence, 
piety, and energy into the churches. 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 63 

October 14, 1890, Doctor Graves and Mrs. San- 
ford were united in marriage. This year the mis- 
sion enjoyed a visit from Dr. H. C. Mabie, secre- 
tary of the American Baptist Missionary Union, 
who was most favorably impressed with its conduct. 
Doctor Graves' method of training converts and 
gathering from among them the more promising 
as evangelists and pastors he considered admirable. 
He was also impressed with the tactful handling of 
the work among the women and with the fact that 
the large native church sustained two pastors. 
"Indeed," he said, ''self-support is insisted on in 
this thoroughly effective mission." 

An advance in school enterprises was noted 
during the year 1891. The native Christians raised 
^950 and opened a school of their own with forty 
pupils. Doctor Graves' quarterly class for training 
preachers became so large that he was forced to 
limit the number.^ The arrival of Mr. and Mrs. 
G. W. Greene and Miss C. J. White in the autumn 
of 1 89 1 was a welcome event. Mr. Greene at the 
time of his appointment was a professor of Latin 
in Wake Poorest College. His experience as a 
teacher fitted him to assist Doctor Graves in train- 
ing Chinese converts and such a co-worker was 

^ He refers to the years 1890-1891 as not marked by unusual suc- 
cess, though he reported 78 baptisms, 426 pupils in 7 schools, 13 
stations and outstations, 22 native workers, 560 church-members, 
and contributions amounting to ^640. 



64 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

much needed. Miss White was well equipped for 
missionary work, having been trained for it and 
having had some practical experience. 

Chief among the causes for thanksgiving in 1892 
was the arrival of Miss Anna Hartwell in Decem- 
ber. She was born in Tungchow and spent sev- 
eral years of her childhood in Canton under Doctor 
Graves* care. Her later life was passed in San 
Francisco where, while still a schoolgirl, she de- 
voted her evenings to teaching in the Chinese 
Baptist mission. At this time the call came to 
her to give her life to the Chinese in their own 
land, and in preparation she spent two years in 
the Missionary Training School in Chicago. She 
took highest rank and gave evidence of unusual 
capability for missionary service. Fitted by nature, 
training, and experience, she was soon able to be- 
gin work and more than realized the hopes centered 
upon her. 

Another cause for rejoicing was the completion of 
the chapel in the Kwang Sai province. The church- 
members, who numbered only twenty-four, gave 
the lot and part of the money to build it. This 
was the first chapel in a province whose population 
was estimated at eight million. The people were 
strongly anti-foreign and the first Christians had to 
stand persecution ; but their patient endurance and 
consistent example led others to inquire into the 
new doctrine and find out its truth. The Chinese 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 65 

Christians contributed ^200 to the Centennial 
Fund and of this about fourteen dollars was given 
by the Woman's Missionary Society. 

The rivers of China have proved highways for 
the gospel. Mr. Greene, in company with Mr. 
Simmons and a young Chinese physician trained 
in the Canton hospital, made a trip up the North 
River, an account of which illustrates some of the 
methods employed in reaching the people. When- 
ever the boat made a brief stop the physician hung 
out his sign and soon had a number of patients. 
In places where there was a chapel he carried his 
medicines to it and there ministered to the suffer- 
ing. When not occupied with patients he was 
quite ready to preach the gospel and his assistant 
stood by the door and sold tracts and copies of the 
Scriptures. Even the cook often went ashore to 
sell books, occasionally preached, and often talked 
with the people. The year 1893 was one of great 
sickness in and around Canton and three of the 
native helpers passed to their reward. One of 
these was converted at Demarara under the preach- 
ing of Lough Fook. Before he became a Christian 
he had made about ^2,000, nearly all of which he 
expended in preaching the gospel without salary. 
Notwithstanding the hindrances caused by sickness 
the year was a fruitful one. Three new stations 
were opened and the baptisms were nearly double 
those of the year previous. Among the converts 



66 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

was a Buddhist priest, who gave up money-making 
and an easy life for poverty, hardship, and the 
service of Christ. Ten men were baptized at Ping 
Lok, or '* peace come down," who were the fruit 
of the faithful teaching of a Christian man from 
the Swatow Baptist mission. He removed to Ping 
Lok to live, and when a colporter visited the village 
he found a little group of interested people whom 
this man by teaching and example had gathered. 
About one and a half million pages of tracts and 
Scriptures were distributed and these often proved 
the entering wedge. 

Mrs. Graves' health having become impaired by 
an attack of fever she left Canton with her husband 
early in 1894. Their departure was most timely; 
the bubonic plague was breaking out with all its 
horrors, and neither of them was in a condition to 
endure the anxiety or the death-laden atmosphere. 
Several of the church-members fell victims to the 
plague, among them one of the most efficient Bible 
women and one of the best school teachers. The 
year was one of unusually good opportunities for 
work among the women in their homes, both in 
the city and in the country. The black death 
hovering over the land made them realize the un- 
certainty of life and the dark and hopeless eternity 
beyond. Many a heathen woman listened with an 
earnestness rarely seen before. 

During the early part of the plague season the 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION ^J 

missionaries were welcomed as messengers of hope 
and comfort, but the methods of treatment by for- 
eign doctors in Hong Kong and their efforts to 
stop the plague led to the posting and circulating 
of inflammatory placards and reports accusing the 
physicians of barbarous treatment and the mission- 
aries and native Christians of endeavoring to 
spread the plague while ostensibly trying to cure 
it. There was much excitement. Some rioting 
occurred, many native Christians were cruelly per- 
secuted, and all except one of the chapels in Can- 
ton were closed, while most of the schools were 
suspended and some were broken up. The pecu- 
liar trials of this year brought to the missionaries 
a deeper experience of God as a very present help 
in time of trouble. In the midst of anxieties, sad- 
ness, and death they praised him for care and guid- 
ance and real progress in the work. 

The year 1895 was one of excitement and oppo- 
sition to foreigners all over the empire. In the 
earlier months of the year the war with Japan was 
exciting the minds of the people ; later the Kue- 
heng massacre was as fuel to the flame, and in the 
early autumn an attempted uprising in Canton was 
a new cause for anxiety. The native helpers were 
demoralized and the minds of the people were too 
full of war to listen to the message from the Prince 
of Peace. Numbers of people visited the chapels, 
but they were restless and suspicious. The women 



68 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

in the city and in the country, however, listened 
eagerly to the gospel. Miss McMinn met with 
great encouragement in her country trips, and at 
Kwai Ping city, in Kwong Sai province, from which 
several Presbyterian missionaries had been expelled 
a few years before and their houses burned, num- 
bers of women, sometimes forty a day, came to the 
boat in which she traveled and listened attentively. 
Everywhere the Bible women found open doors 
and waiting hearts. 

School work was also encouraging. In the 
spring a Saturday night prayer meeting was begun 
in the boarding school, its object being prayer for 
the conversion of relatives and friends. Eleven 
girls and nine women were converted. This board- 
ing school was founded by Miss Emma Young, on 
whose heart it was laid to establish a school where 
Baptist women and girls could receive a Christian 
education under favorable circumstances. With 
the sanction of the Board she made an appeal to 
the women of Missouri, her native State, and with 
characteristic energy they undertook the work. 
The building was completed in February, 1888, 
and the school opened in March. According to 
the plan of its founder both women and girls were 
received, though it was called a girls' boarding 
school. Admission to the school in the earlier 
days was not limited to children from Christian 
families, but those were received who were willing 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 69 

to study the Bible and submit to the regulations of 
a Christian school. In 1899 ^^^ school had out- 
grown its building and the women were removed 
to another building and organized separately. 
Both buildings were soon filled and sometimes 
overcrowded. Girls are admitted to the board- 
ing school after the age of ten years; the ages 
of the women vary from their teens to sixty years 
or more. Some of these old women brighten up 
wonderfully as the Spirit of God takes hold of 
them, and witness for Christ with great sweetness 
when they return to their distant country homes. 
These women are usually the mothers of men con- 
verted in the United States. In the autumn of 
1895, a two-weeks' class for women was held in the 
girl's boarding-school building and lessons were 
given in the Old and New Testament. This class 
was designed to give Christian women, especially 
those in the country villages whose home cares 
prevented their coming to the boarding school for 
any length of time, an opportunity to learn more 
of gospel truth. The interest and spiritual help 
of these classes were frequently borne witness to. 
There was cause for great rejoicing in the mis- 
sion when peace was declared between China and 
Japan, and five new ports were opened to trade 
and foreign residence. One of these ports, Shiu 
Hing, was already occupied by Miss North and 
Miss McMinn, and the missionaries had been pray- 



70 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

ing for years that another, Wu Chaw, might be 
opened to them. Both of these cities were im- 
portant points on West River. Late in the year 
1895, Doctor and Mrs. Graves returned to Canton, 
accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Chambers. 
Mr. Chambers had been under appointment for 
some time, and had learned something of the home 
side of foreign missions while assisting the corre- 
sponding secretary in the office in Richmond. In 
February, 1896, the mission welcomed Miss E. B. 
Sale, of Virginia. She made rapid progress with 
the language, and was soon able to begin work in 
the Kwong Sai province, where Miss McMinn had 
long desired a co-worker. 

The field occupied by the South China Mission 
at this time embraced a territory extending from 
one hundred and fifty miles southeast of Canton 
to two hundred miles northeast ; from ninety miles 
southeast to three hundred miles northwest, and 
over three hundred miles west. From twelve to 
fifteen days were required to make the journey to 
the more distant stations. Most of the emigrants 
to America were from the country southwest of 
Canton, and it was to carry the gospel to their 
friends and to look after converts returning that 
this district was entered. The first country work 
was done in the West River Valley, and the sta- 
tions there are its natural expansion. 

A strenuous effort toward self-help and inde- 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 7 1 

pendent work was shown in the report of the mis- 
sion for 1896. The Canton church provided for 
the entire support of its pastor. The other native 
pastors were only partly paid by the mission, and of 
twenty-two unordained preachers only twelve were 
supported by funds from the Board. The rest were 
maintained by friends in the United States or by 
the Chinese independently of the mission. Four 
day schools were carried on without expense to 
the mission. The mission boat, "Bearer of Bless- 
ings," owned by one of the missionaries, proved of 
much value in itinerating, as it was more comfort- 
able than the native boats and a longer time could 
be spent on it without detriment to health. A lot 
on one of the principal streets in Wu Chaw was 
purchased, a chapel and small dwelling were built, 
and, with the desire to push on into the interior, 
Mr. and Mrs. Chambers took up their residence 
there. The chapel was opened for preaching, a 
book room and a small free library were connected 
with it, and many tracts and books were circu- 
lated. Unusual interest attached to the Kwong 
Sai work owing to the prospect of a speedy open- 
ing up of the West River to foreign steamers, 
with Wu Chaw as the principal port. The change 
in officials and literati from open opposition to 
friendly cordiality toward the foreigner and his 
religion was very manifest. 

In her country trips, during 1 896, Miss White 



72 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

visited thirty-five villages within two hundred miles 
of Canton, where there was neither foreign mis- 
sionary nor Bible woman. The work done in the 
districts visited was supported by Chinese in 
America and other friends. Many of the Chi- 
nese converted in foreign lands live in this section, 
so in many houses the idols had been cast down. 
With few exceptions the villages she visited were 
on the waterways, and there were hundreds inland 
to which the gospel message had never come. In 
one plain Miss White counted thirty-one villages 
that had never been visited by a missionary. The 
Leung Kwong Baptist Association met at Shiu 
Hing in February, 1896. Forty-five delegates were 
present, and seven out of eight churches were rep- 
resented. Eighty-three baptisms were reported. 
It was a meeting in which the presence of the 
Holy Spirit was manifest. The practical outcome 
was the opening of a new mission station, the de- 
termination to appoint an associational missionary, 
and the raising of a generous sum toward his 
support. 

The year 1897 marked an advance all along the 
line. More baptisms were reported than during 
any previous year, and for the first time the mem- 
bership of the churches numbered more than a 
thousand. School and medical work, house to 
house visiting, and itinerating, all were encourag- 
ing, and open doors on every hand invited to yet 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 73 

greater effort. The influence of Chinese schools 
in America was increasingly felt. Two brethren 
from America, aided by friends, built a neat little 
chapel in a village near Canton, where the people 
were friendly and there was a bright prospect for 
fruitful work. One village school was opened at 
the request of Christian Chinese in British Co- 
lumbia who wished their wives to study the Bible, 
and another was cared for by a young lady in Illi- 
nois who became interested in the Sun Ning dis- 
trict through the Chinese work in America. There 
was an increasing readiness on the part of the peo- 
ple to buy and read Christian literature, and the 
village work was very encouraging. Miss McMinn 
made a beginning among the Mandarin-speaking 
women of the Kwong Sai province, and spent 
three weeks in a district hitherto visited by no 
foreigner except French Roman Catholic priests. 
She found the field a most promising one. Five 
years before the first believer was baptized and be- 
came an evangelist. At the time of her visit the 
one had increased to almost thirty. Near the 
close of the year Dr. McCloy returned with his 
family to Canton. He had taken a course in 
medicine while in America and prepared himself 
for greater usefulness. 

The political agitations in China during the year 
1898 had at least one beneficial result, in that it 
partially awakened the Chinese and led many to 



74 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

examine into the merits of Christianity. The 
preaching halls had never been so crowded nor 
had there ever been so many seeking acquaintance 
with and instruction from the missionaries. The 
baptisms were about double those of the year pre- 
vious. Large numbers of books and copies of the 
Scriptures were sold and eagerly read by a better 
class of people. The spirit of inquiry was abroad 
in the land. During half the year most of the 
province of Kwong Sai was in rebellion and the 
rebel chief made dire threats against the Chris- 
tians. The rebels took possession of several mar- 
ket towns and decided to take one more and then 
go to a village where a number of Christians were 
gathered and exterminate them, men, women, and 
children. Though by their own folly they failed 
to wholly carry out this purpose, the Christians 
were driven from their homes and into hiding, 
where they suffered great hardships. This was 
but a sample of what occurred in the case of many 
another village during the Boxer uprising, while in 
others still that happened which sent a thrill of 
horror through the civilized world. 

According to Doctor Graves the most impor- 
tant event in the history of the Canton mission 
during the year 1898 was the choice and ordina- 
tion of Chow Leung as pastor of the Canton 
church. Doctor Graves describes him as a godly 
man, of a sweet. Christian temper, quiet demeanor, 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 75 

and earnest piety. All the brethren had full con- 
fidence in him as a man and as a pastor. Seventy- 
four were baptized into the fellowship of the Can- 
ton church, most of whom lived at country sta- 
tions where no church had yet been organized. 

The organization of the Chinese Baptist Publi- 
cation Society marked the opening months of 
1899. For several years members of the Canton 
mission had given much thought to this enter- 
prise, and in 1897 circulars were sent to Baptist 
missionaries throughout China suggesting co-opera- 
tion in a publication work. The suggestion met 
with general approval, and an invitation was issued 
asking Baptist missions to send representatives to 
a meeting to be held in Canton in February. The 
society was organized February 27-28, with a 
Board of Directors composed of missionaries from 
the Southern Baptist Convention and from the 
American Baptist Missionary Union and four capa- 
ble Chinese brethren. Doctor Graves was elected 
president and Mr. Chambers secretary and treas- 
urer. Contributions from China alone soon 
amounted to more than ^4,000. The enterprise 
meets a long-felt need, and promises to be in- 
creasingly useful to Baptist missions in all parts 
of China. 

The year 1899 witnessed the largest number of 
baptisms in the history of the mission, five hun- 
dred and thirty-three. While the missionaries 



76 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

rejoiced over this ingathering they also trembled at 
the responsibility placed upon them to teach these 
scattered converts all things the Master had com- 
manded. Miss Annie J. Kennon and Mr. S. T. 
Williams were welcomed by the mission early in 

1900. Mr. Williams was destined for the Hakka 
work, which had been steadily increasing in inter- 
est and promise. In 1899 there were between 
four and five hundred converts speaking the Hakka 
dialect, and there were two organized churches in 
the district. There was great need of some one 
to train these converts in Christian giving and the 
other Christian graces that would make them self- 
supporting, self-cultivating churches. It is a field 
requiring great self-denial and consecration. The 
Boxer uprising in the summer of 1900 prevented 
Mr. Williams from proceeding at once to his field. 
He was detained in Canton until the spring of 

1 901, when he spent several months in the Hakka 
district, traveling over six hundred miles. He 
found many inquiring the way, and baptized sev- 
enty-two converts, making nearly a hundred addi- 
tions to the churches in the Hakka district during 
the early months of 1901. As the stations in this 
district were remote from the great centers and 
trade routes, the people were less influenced by 
the anti-foreign feeling during the troubles of 1900 
than in other places. Regular Sunday services 
were held in all the three churches throughout the 



THE SOUTH CHINA MISSION 7/ 

year, and some work was done among the inter- 
ested heathen. Mr. Williams was but reaping the 
fruit of these efforts. 

The closing year of the century was one of 
great peril and trial all over China. In the South 
China Mission the loss and danger were not so 
great as in other missions, but work was practi- 
cally suspended for several months. The native 
Christians were severely tried by personal fear 
and loss of property, but very few abandoned their 
profession. Only one native Christian was called 
upon to lay down his life for his faith. This man 
had been in the persecutions during the rebellion 
in the Kwong Sai province and had lost his all. 
He then became a traveling doctor, and was on 
his way to a mountain village to see a sick man 
when he was met by some soldiers who questioned 
him, and, finding that he was a '* Jesus fellow," 
they bound him to a tree and shot him dead. A 
man gathering wood near-by brought to his breth- 
ren the tidings of his faithful death. Several 
chapels were destroyed, some looted, and some 
attacked and damaged. The Chinese government 
made prompt reparation for these losses. 

The new century opened with brighter pros- 
pects. The missionaries gradually returned to 
their fields and the Board sought to reinforce the 
mission as rapidly as the gifts of Southern Bap- 
tists permitted. It is not the time at this writing 



yS MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

to forecast the future of China nor the final result 
of the troubles arising from the Boxer outbreak. 
But the missionaries are cheerful and hopeful, re- 
membering that he who said, "Go ye into all the 
world," said also, " Lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the age." 



1 



V 

CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 

THE Foreign Mission Board having decided to 
enter China, determined to extend the work 
as rapidly as possible, and as soon as the mission 
at Canton was established to open one at Shanghai. 
On the eighteenth of December, 1846, Mr. and 
Mrs. Matthew T. Yates, Mr. and Mrs. T. W. To- 
bey, and Dr. J. Sexton James, were designated for 
missionary work in the First Baptist Church, of 
Richmond, Va. Mr. J. L. Shuck, who ten years 
before had been set apart in the same church, was 
present with the native preacher, Yong Seen Sang. 
These brethren had been transferred from the 
Canton mission to lend their assistance to the 
establishment of the new station. Messrs. Shuck 
and Tobey sailed in March following, via Hong 
Kong. Mr. Tobey was graduated from Columbian 
College and was ordained to the ministry a few 
days after his appointment as a missionary to 
China. Mrs. Tobey was a sister of Mrs. Shuck 
and a daughter of Rev. Addison Hall, of Virginia. 
Mr. Yates expected to accompany his colleagues 
but was detained by the illness of his wife. He 

79 



8o MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

sailed a month later, proceeding at once to Shang- 
hai where he was the first of the missionary party 
to arrive. 

Mr. Yates' early training was excellent prepara- 
tion for his life-work. Reared on a farm in Wake 
County, N. C, his splendid physique enabled him 
to labor and endure hardship for more than forty 
years in China. Close touch with nature through 
his early years fostered an unaffected simplicity of 
heart that was one of the charms of his mature 
years. His conversion was the result of too pro- 
longed and intense a struggle not to have had a 
powerful influence over his future life. For three 
years he sought isolated spots in the woods where 
he would be unmolested and prayed, " God be 
merciful to me a sinner," but he imagined that he 
must find peace at some protracted meeting and 
his prayers were in reference to such meetings- 
At the age of seventeen he attended a meeting at 
Mount Pisgah Church, to which he had looked 
forward hoping to find pardon for his sins. The 
meeting drew near its close and he was in despair, 
for he was still unsaved and there was no other 
meeting in prospect. In agony of mind he went 
into the woods and falling on his knees cried, " O 
Lord, help me." He had too long sought help from 
the preachers and he now turned to the Lord alone, 
and in him found peace. 

His desire to enter the ministry became known 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 8 1 

to the president of Wake Forest College, who urged 
him to come and continue his education and se- 
cured aid for him from the State Convention. 
Soon after his conversion his attention was directed 
to the condition of the heathen world by reading 
the memoirs of Mrs. Judson. The impression made 
was deep and lasting and when he made known his 
intention to enter the ministry he signified his 
willingness to preach the gospel to the heathen. 
He found a true helpmate in Miss Eliza Moring, 
to whom he was married, September 27, 1846. 
They had known each other from childhood and 
their love was but the maturing of a youthful 
friendship. She was a lovely, cultured, and conse- 
crated woman and proved herself as strong and 
efficient in her sphere as her husband was in his. 
In the autumn of 1846 the Raleigh Association 
adopted Mr. Yates as its missionary and pledged 
him a competent support. 

Mr. and Mrs. Yates arrived in Shanghai, Sep- 
tember 12, 1847. Ignorant of the language and 
the conditions of life in China, they were to en- 
counter many difficulties before a beginning could 
be made; but with strong faith in God and deep 
conviction of duty, they bravely and cheerfully 
faced the future. Mr. and Mrs. Tobey joined the 
mission on September 25, and anticipating the 
arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Shuck in October, the 
missionary family removed to the house of the 



82 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Austrian consul, having rented it for two years. 
This was a more commodious dwelling than the 
one previously occupied, and being outside the city 
walls was blessed with fresh air and sunlight. On 
November 6, 1847, a Baptist church of ten mem- 
bers was constituted, with Mr. Yates as clerk, 
Messrs. Tobey and Yong as deacons, and Mr. 
Shuck as pastor. 

Doctor and Mrs. James sailed for China in No- 
vember, 1847. Doctor James' desire to become a 
missionary physician dated from the time of his 
conversion and inspired him to secure the fullest 
preparation for his life-work. A few months be- 
fore his departure for China he was married to 
Miss Anna Price Safford, of Salem, Mass. The 
missionaries were anxiously awaiting the arrival of 
Doctor James, who had been appointed treasurer 
of the mission, but their hope of having a Christian 
physician to open the way for the healing of souls 
was doomed to saddest disappointment. In April, 
1848, the schooner bearing Doctor and Mrs. James 
was capsized by a sudden squall at the entrance to 
the harbor of Hong Kong and the missionaries 
found through the depths of the sea a way for the 
ransomed to pass over. 

The first year or two of missionary life was de- 
voted to the study of the language and was what 
Mr. Yates called a sort of incubation. This period 
of study proved too great a tax on Doctor Yates ; 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 83 

the optic nerves gave way and his sight was virtually 
gone. As it became necessary for him to give up 
the study of the classics, he devoted himself to the 
acquisition of the spoken language. He had a very 
acute and musical ear and being forced out of his 
study into constant intercourse with the people 
during these first years, he learned to speak Chinese 
with a fluency that has never been equaled. The 
Chinese could scarcely believe that he was a for- 
eigner. A year from the date of his arrival in Shang- 
hai he began to preach to the people. A vacant ware- 
house on the mission premises was converted into 
a chapel and furnished with benches and a table. 
It was the custom for one of the missionaries to 
stand at the door and invite the people in, while 
another stood behind the table and when two or 
three were seated he began talking in order to hold 
their attention. The number attending gradually 
increased to fifty or more as the news spread that 
the missionaries were good men and talked about 
morality. The missionaries entered China four or 
five years after the opium war and they had to 
contend against subdued but intense opposition 
excited by the strong feeling against all foreigners, 
a feeling growing out of their defeat by the British. 
As the people in the treaty ports began to under- 
stand the object of foreigners in coming to China, 
either a better state of feeling was engendered or 
they acquiesced in the inevitable. 



84 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

After using the warehouse for several months 
the missionaries succeeded in securing a preaching 
place within the walls of the city and began to 
look around for a lot on which to build a large 
church, the funds for this purpose having been col- 
lected by Mr. Shuck during his visit to the United 
States. The plan for the church called for a spire 
one hundred and sixty feet high but this had to be 
abandoned as no Chmaman could build it. A 
Gothic structure was erected with a brick tower 
eighty feet high. The auditorium was sixty by 
forty feet, with broad galleries, baptistery, and 
dressing rooms, the seating capacity being about 
seven hundred. It was a conspicuous object in the 
city and the bell tower attracted general attention. 
The church was burned in 1862 and was rebuilt by 
subscriptions made in Shanghai. 

Doctor Yates gives an interesting account of an 
incident that occurred during the early years of his 
missionary life. In his itinerant work he met a 
tea merchant from an interior village. He was 
attracted to the man, invited him to call at his 
house and to come to church. After selling his 
tea the merchant accepted the invitation and had 
repeated interviews with Doctor Yates. He also 
frequently attended church. Before his departure 
he called to thank Doctor Yates for his attentions 
and was given a New Testament and some tracts. 
Doctor Yates followed him with his prayers and a 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 85 

year later when he returned to Shanghai he called 
to tell Doctor Yates of that New Testament. He 
said that his home was in a city surrounded by an 
amphitheatre of mountains, and the only way of 
egress was through two natural tunnels. The 
people knew nothing of the outside world except 
what they learned from books or merchants. When 
he showed them the New Testament they read it 
eagerly, said it was a good book, and Confucius 
must have had access to it. In order to secure 
more copies of it, they took off the binding and 
distributed it among copyists until they had 
secured sixteen copies of the whole Testament and 
many copies of portions of it. They also intro- 
duced it into their schools as a text-book. They 
had discovered from studying it that there was 
another and older book, and had told him to be 
sure and ask for the other volume of sacred clas- 
sics. He urged Doctor Yates to return with him 
and preach to the people of the ** inside world," 
but the Tai Ping rebellion had broken out and the 
journey was fraught with many dangers. Doctor 
Yates tried to persuade the merchant not to at- 
tempt to return until he knew the way was safe, 
as he had a large amount of silver and feared rob- 
bers, but he insisted on making the journey. He 
was probably murdered, as Doctor Yates never 
heard of him afterward, and in the confusion inci- 
dent to the approach of the rebels to Shanghai,. 



S6 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

he lost the memorandum of his city and was never 
able to follow up the work begun by that New 
Testament. 

The year 1849 witnessed the first baptism in 
the great heathen city of Shanghai. A quiet pond 
near Mr. Shuck's house was the spot selected, and 
many of the passers-by stopped and looked in 
amazement as the pastor of the little church led 
three of their countrymen down into the water 
and baptized them. Early in the history of the 
Shanghai mission an outstation was established at 
Oo Kah Jak, or village of the Oo family, about ten 
miles from the heart of the city. This was the 
first country station ever opened in China. Here 
the first Protestant chapel in the interior was 
erected, mainly through the efforts of the ladies of 
the mission. Referring to this station, Mr. Shuck 
said that the Foreign Mission Board was the first 
Protestant Board of Missions in the world that 
held property and gained a permanent footing in 
the interior of China. The people of the village 
numbered about two hundred, but the surrounding 
region was densely populated, and the people were 
friendly and accessible to the preaching of the gos- 
pel. A school was established, with an attendance 
of about twelve, several girls being among the 
number. This station was opened with a view 
to ascertaining whether the foreigners would be 
kindly received in the interior and how far the 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 8/ 

missionaries might venture to send books and es- 
tablish schools. It demonstrated the fact that 
they might freely enter the interior and prosecute 
their work. In the towns there was a great de- 
mand for books, but in the country many of the 
people could not read. Women who could read 
were very rare. As the new doctrine grew in 
favor, the press around the boats of the mission- 
aries, as they went along the canals, was so great 
that they could only put a book or tract on the* 
end of a long pole and hand it over to the people 
on the banks. 

The early history of a mission is one of frequent 
changes, as new missionaries must take the place 
of those compelled to return home. By the death 
of Mrs. Shuck, in 185 1, and the dismissal of Mr. 
Shuck, in 1853, to work among the Chinese in 
California, the mission lost two of its most efficient 
workers. The Convention of 185 1, meeting in 
Nashville, Tenn., witnessed the designation of 
Doctor and Mrs. Crawford, Mr. A. B. Cabaniss, 
and Dr. G. W. Burton to missionary service in 
central China. While Doctor Crawford was under 
appointment, the Foreign Mission Board received 
a letter from Alabama, asking if the Board would 
send out an unmarried woman, and commending 
Miss Martha Foster, who was anxious to conse- 
crate her life to the service of Christ in China. 
This letter was shown to Doctor Crawford, who 



88 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

regarded it as a providential leading and immedi- 
ately set out for Alabama. After a brief court- 
ship he was married to Miss Foster, March 12, 
1851. 

Doctor Burton was highly recommended to the 
Board and realized the hopes centered in him. 
Soon after his arrival in China he had a severe 
attack of brain fever, and a second attack rendered 
his return to America imperative. A speedy res- 
toration to health made him eager to return to his 
chosen field, and having married Miss Bennett, 
daughter of Rev. Cephas Bennett, of Burma, he 
sailed for China in 1853. He was a great addition 
to the mission ; great numbers of sick people were 
brought to him, and he was very successful in 
healing their diseases. The missionaries and the 
doctrines they taught were thus brought into more 
general notice. On one occasion Doctor Burton 
visited the outstation at Oo Kah Jah, and as soon 
as it became known that he had arrived, streams 
of people were seen wending their way from the 
surrounding region to receive attention from the 
foreign doctor. The house was soon crowded, 
and the doctor dispensed medicines and examined 
patients until he was compelled by fatigue to de- 
sist. Mr. Cabaniss dated his missionary impres- 
sions to the visits of Judson, Dean, and Shuck to 
Richmond College while he was a student. So 
deep were these impressions that he promised Mr. 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 89 

Shuck he would go to China after his graduation, 
if the Lord would open the way. He went out, 
supported by the Goshen Association of Virginia, 
his native State. 

At the close of the year 1852, Doctor Yates 
wrote home : ''There is a general spirit of inquiry 
concerning our religion, but it is all headwork ; 
there is no heartwork about it. But we know that 
the mind must be informed before the affections 
can be moved. Ours is pioneer work. I trust 
the Board and the churches will not become weary 
in waiting long for the harvest at Shanghai." 

The next year brought trial and discourage- 
ment greater than any yet known. The Tai 
Ping rebellion had grown to such magnitude 
that the passions of four millions of people were 
lashed into fury. An uprising of peasants and 
mountaineers, in 1850, had grown to an insurrec- 
tion that threatened the overthrow of the empire. 
Beginning as a struggle for religious freedom, idols 
were cast down, temples destroyed, and a declara- 
tion of rights drawn up, embodying the first com- 
mandment and setting forth the right of the rebels 
to worship the one true God. Around this decla- 
ration the adherents knelt with drawn swords and 
swore to defend it with their lives. The Scrip- 
tures were printed and distributed among the 
troops and the people flocked to the new standard. 
It soon degenerated into a political movement of 



90 



MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 



ruthless destruction and indiscriminate slaughter. 
These trying times inspired the people with confi- 
dence in the missionaries. Seeing their own offi- 
cials unable to cope with the situation, they turned 
to the foreigners for protection. This is illus- 
trated by the action of a man, who, during a panic, 
made frantic efforts to secure a place of safety for 
about two hundred dollars in silver, and decided 
to throw it over the wall into Doctor Yates' yard 
and continue his flight. It is needless to say he 
came and received his money when the panic was 
over. 

On September 7, 1853, the rebels gained pos- 
session of the city of Shanghai. Slight resistance 
was offered, there was little bloodshed, and the 
missionaries sustained no injury. Doctor Yates' 
house, just without the city wall, was the cover 
under which the Imperialists came within three 
hundred feet of the city wall. He witnessed sixty- 
eight battles around his house, for he remained to 
protect it after it was thought unsafe for the ladies 
to stay in such an exposed position and they had 
removed to safer quarters. Doctor Yates did not 
think the rebels would fire intentionally at his 
house, but he was exposed to great danger from 
stray shots that frequently crashed through the 
outer windows. 

During these months of forced inaction Doctor 
Yates devoted himself to the study of the language 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 9 1 

and rendered into the Shanghai dialect a tract en- 
titled '* The Two Friends." He also devoted much 
time to the preparation of a dictionary of the words 
and phrases of the spoken Shanghai dialect. This 
has proved of inestimable benefit to later mission- 
aries. Cut off from all supplies by a wall fifteen 
feet thick, that the Imperialists had erected to 
starve out the rebels, Doctor Yates demanded a 
gate in the wall and in case this should be refused 
and he be compelled to leave the premises, de- 
manded a guarantee of indemnity for whatever 
damage the property might receive. This was 
paid in at the consulate, and after guarding his 
house for sixteen months, surrounded by scenes 
revolting and horrible, he sadly abandoned it. The 
Imperalists immediately occupied the house as a 
battery and used all the wood work as fuel. The 
rebels secretly withdrew from the city and the 
Imperalists, fearing treachery, fired it. The most 
valuable portion was destroyed and during the 
three days the fire raged the army was allowed 
to sack the city. With this the rebellion ended. 
It was local and though contemporaneous had no 
real connection with the Tai Ping movement. 

The mission property was returned, and with the 
indemnity Doctor Yates had secured, the houses 
were rebuilt and made habitable. The following 
interesting incident illustrates the confidence Doc- 
tor Yates inspired, and the frequent appeals made 



92 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

to his kindness and generosity that grew out of 
this confidence. A poor old Chinaman called one 
day with a pitiful story of poverty and helplessness. 
He told Doctor Yates that he and his old wife 
must soon die and they had no money to pay 
funeral expenses, and no children to bury them. 
He was not a Christian, but had attended services 
and had watched Doctor Yates for years and had 
been convinced that there were none among his 
countrymen more honest. He came with the un- 
usual request that Doctor Yates would furnish the 
money for their coffins and attend to their burial. 
Seeing he was so firmly convinced of the disinter- 
estedness of the missionaries, Doctor Yates decided 
to give him a hundred dollars. With this he pur- 
chased two coffins. A few weeks later he came 
again to Doctor Yates and insisted on giving him 
the title to a small piece of ground in the suburbs. 
He said it was not worth anything, but he had noth- 
ing else to offer in return for his kindness. When 
the old people died Doctor Yates attended to their 
burial. Years passed and an Englishman came to 
Doctor Yates to buy a lot he owned in the suburbs. 
Doctor Yates denied owning any property in that 
portion of the city, but on consulting the records it 
was found to be the lot given him by the old man. 
It had enhanced in value and sold for ^1,500. 

When peace was restored after the rebellion, the 
missionaries lent themselves to aggressive work. 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 93 

The destruction of idols and temples having given 
ocular demonstration of the weakness of their gods, 
the people were ready to listen with deeper inter- 
est to the truths of the gospel. The idols for the 
time being, at least, lost their power and while 
heretofore it had been a difficult matter to secure 
one that had been worshiped, they were now for 
sale at any curio shop and could be bought for a 
trifle. The year 1855 was an eventful one, mark- 
ing the suppression of the rebellion, and the mis- 
sionaries had never before been able to do so much 
apparently effective preaching. It was marked by 
the first baptism of a Chinese woman. Five schools 
were maintained, with an attendance of a hundred 
and fifty boys and fifty girls. 

After ten years of continued and exhausting 
service in China, Doctor Yates, with his family 
and Mrs. Crawford, sailed for the United States in 
September, 1857. They were shipwrecked before 
they left the China seas, and after several days of 
extreme peril were picked up by a Siamese vessel 
and returned to Shanghai. They sailed again in 
November, assured that everything had been pro- 
vided for their comfort, but the supply of nourish- 
ing food gave out while yet two months of the 
voyage remained and they landed in New York 
worn out and exhausted in mind and body. 

In March, i860, Doctor Yates was again in 
Shanghai. He received a warm welcome from the 



94 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

native members of the church, some of whom had 
been called to endure persecution for their faith. 
Shortly after the country was again in rebellion 
and the city was occupied by the allied French and 
English armies to guard it against the rebels. In 
this time of excitement the great mass of the peo- 
ple moved to the interior, and congregations were 
small, consisting mainly of Chinese from the in- 
terior. Doctor Yates congratulated himself that 
before sailing for America he had studied the lan- 
guage of the Mandarins and was able to preach to 
these strangers. This year Doctor Yates experi- 
enced the joy of baptizing Wong Yih San, a rice 
merchant, who had been interested for years but 
feared he could not keep the Sabbath and earn 
a living for his family. He had finally deter- 
mined to obey Christ, whatever might be the con- 
sequences. All aggressive work, however, was sus- 
pended on account of the war, but Doctor Yates 
wrote : " Now that we can do little more than 
hold on, God is at work. The Chinese have been 
humbled ; an effectual door will soon be opened." 
Toward the close of the year peace was restored 
and the refugees returned to their homes. In 
the midst of difficulties Doctor Yates felt encour- 
aged. The church-members, numbering twenty- 
four, maintained a weekly prayer meeting among 
themselves ; seven of them prayed in public and 
most of the others prayed in their families. 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 95 

In April, i860, Alfred Luther Bond, of Athens, 
Ohio, was appointed a missionary to China. At 
an early age he removed to Baltimore, Md., and 
was baptized into the fellowship of the First Bap- 
tist Church by Doctor Williams. He entered 
Columbian College, Washington, D. C, sustained 
by his church. The president of the college, Doc- 
tor Binney, said he was worth his weight in gold, 
so great was his moral influence upon the students. 
In July, i860, he was ordained and married to 
Miss Helena Dameron, of Baltimore. Eager to 
enter into missionary life they sailed from New 
York in the " Edwin Forest." Nothing was ever 
heard from them and no trace of the vessel was 
ever found. 

This sad event was the presage of years of trial 
and discouragement. Doctor Burton, who had 
been rendering valuable assistance to the mission- 
aries while supporting himself by his profession, 
returned to America in 1861. Wars in China and 
America added a two-fold burden to the mission- 
aries ; in 1 862 the Asiatic cholera raged in the 
city ; the large chapel was destroyed by fire ; con- 
gregations were small or entirely broken up ; 
schools were dispersed ; and everything wore a 
gloomy aspect. The missionaries largely sup- 
ported themselves, although aided by generous 
friends in Maryland and Kentucky. They felt, as 
Doctor Crawford expressed it, that *'war or no 



96 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

war, the mission must go on," and while their 
brethren at home were suffering all the devasta- 
tion of war they must make the least possible de- 
mand upon them. During this troublous time 
Doctor and Mrs. Crawford removed to Tungchow 
and connected themselves with the Shantung mis- 
sion. 

Doctor Yates, feeling that he could not depend 
on a support through the usual channels, entered 
government employ. This had the effect of en- 
larging his sphere of influence and securing wider 
opportunities for future usefulness. In 1865 
Doctor Yates wrote to the Board that he wished 
to make an annual contribution of his salary from 
the first of July, 1863, and to renounce all claim 
on the Board for services rendered so long as a 
piece of property he had acquired yielded sufficient 
income for the support of his family. 

The opening months of the year 1866 were 
marked by discouragement and gloom. War had 
had a demoralizing effect on the people and the 
church, and the spirit of inquiry was practically 
dead. The practice of some English missionaries 
of receiving into the church those who were will- 
ing to abandon idols, but who had not accepted 
Christ, and the protection of the French flag over 
the papist places of worship, thus leading many to 
seek their protection, had militated against the 
purer methods employed by Baptists. Feeling 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 97 

deeply the unfavorable circumstances surrounding 
the mission, the missionaries devoted the first of 
the year to prayer for the Holy Spirit. Gradually 
the prospect brightened. 

The year 1867 witnessed the twentieth anniver- 
sary of Doctor and Mrs. Yates' arrival in China. 
When they opened the mission, the country out- 
side of Shanghai was practically closed to them, 
opposition came from local authorities, priests, and 
people ; but at the end of twenty years, hundreds 
of miles of territory lay open to the missionary, 
and a population of one million was accessible to 
the gospel. The Scriptures had been widely dis- 
tributed, and Doctor Yates wrote that the obstacle 
was merely that of the heart, hardened by ages of 
idolatry, which could only be penetrated by the 
Spirit and power of God. The earlier months of 
1869 were full of hope and encouragement. A 
deep interest pervaded the large congregation and 
converts of a better type were received into the 
church. In his eagerness to seize every opportu- 
nity and his effort to do the work of many, Doctor 
Yates overstrained his voice and it suddenly failed. 
He was compelled to give up all public speaking 
and seek restoration in other lands. As he was 
otherwise in perfect health, this was a deep grief 
to him. His affliction seemed to have a benefi- 
cent influence on the church-membership, making 
them feel their responsibility to teach the people 

G 



98 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

the way of life. For several years Doctor Yates 
was unable to stay in Shanghai more than a few 
months at a time. During his last absence, the 
mission was in charge of Wong Ping San, a native 
preacher, whose gifts as a pastor were marvelously 
developed, and of Mrs. Yates, who took the direc- 
tion of affairs. She impressed upon the church 
the duty of lifting the burden of its support from 
American Christians, that they might the sooner 
send the gospel to other parts of the heathen 
world. 

When the Southern Baptist Convention met in 
Texas, in 1874, it was found that the First Baptist 
Church of Shanghai had contributed ;^8oo to the 
objects of the Convention, and Doctor Yates re- 
quested that the church be represented in that 
body. Christian Seminoles, from Indian Terri- 
tory, were chosen to represent the First Baptist 
Church of Shanghai. On October 17, 1881, the 
Hiang Cheh Baptist Association met with Doctor 
Yates' church in Shanghai. This was the first 
Association ever convened in China. Thirteen 
churches were represented. Of these, ten were 
under the patronage of the American Baptist 
Missionary Union and three under the Foreign 
Mission Board. Thirty-one missionaries and dele- 
gates were present and important matters con- 
nected with the policy of the churches were dis- 
cussed. A further advance this year was the 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION 99 

organization and maintenance of a school by seven 
native Christian women, all of them very poor. 
They conferred with Mrs. Yates week by week as 
to its management, but scarcely a suggestion on 
her part was ever needed. 

After twenty-three years of lonely, untiring 
service, Doctor Yates' urgent and repeated appeals 
for reinforcements were responded to by W. S. 
Walker, of Georgia, who arrived in Shanghai in 
January, 1882. He made rapid progress in the 
study of Chinese, and his knowledge of music 
enabled him to begin at once to train the young 
people in singing. The mission received another 
welcome addition, in 1882, by the marriage of Mr. 
Walker to Miss Lilian Mateer, of the Presbyte- 
rian Mission at Tungchow. Miss Mateer was a 
woman of unusual intellectual ability and force of 
character and had given her life unreservedly to 
the service of God in China. Mr. Walker over- 
taxed his strength by too constant application in 
studying the language and was prostrated by an 
attack of brain fever. His physicians advised his 
return to America, and sadly these devoted mis- 
sionaries laid down the work to which they had 
consecrated their lives. 

At the recommendation of Messrs. Yates and 
Walker, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Hunnex, English 
Baptist missionaries of the China Inland Mission, 
were accepted by the Foreign Mission Board in 

LofC. 



100 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

1 88 1. They located at Chinkiang, a city of two 
hundred thousand inhabitants, at the junction of 
the Grand Canal and Yangtse River, one hundred 
and fifty miles from Shanghai. Mr. Hunnex was 
baptized by Mr. Spurgeon in 1878 and united with 
his church. Having become interested in China 
by attending the meetings of the China Inland 
Mission, he went out as a missionary under its 
auspices. Mrs. Hunnex was a Swiss, from Geneva. 

On Sunday, June 10, 1883, the Baptist church 
in Soochow was formally dedicated and though it 
was a rainy day the house and yard were crowded 
with people. Doctor Yates had been urging the 
erection of a chapel in Chinkiang and his heart 
was gladdened by a telegram from the Convention 
of 1885, in session at Augusta, Georgia, authoriz- 
ing the building of the chapel. This work lay 
very near his heart and he spent much time su- 
perintending its erection and renovating the mis- 
sion house. He described the chapel as a thing 
of beauty, and as the solid, well-built wall arose 
he said to Mr. Hunnex: ''This place will stand 
long after I am gone." They often prayed to- 
gether that God would make it the birthplace of 
many souls. Two years later a bell was shipped 
for the chapel, most of the money for which was 
raised by the efforts of the former missionaries, 
Mr. and Mrs. Walker. 

In January, 1886, the mission rejoiced over the 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION lOI 

arrival of Mr. and Mrs. D. W. Herring and Mr. 
and Mrs. R. T. Bryan. All were from North 
Carolina and were probably influenced in their de- 
cision to enter the China field by Doctor Yates' 
repeated and urgent appeals for co-workers. Her- 
ring and Bryan were both college men ; they had 
also graduated from the seminary at Louisville 
and had some experience in pastoral work. Their 
progress in the language was exceptional and in 
less than a year they were conducting public serv- 
ices. Mr. Herring remained in Shanghai and Mr. 
Bryan joined Mr. Hunnex at Chinkiang where 
within a year a church of eleven members was 
organized. 

This year brought to Doctor Yates a signal an- 
swer to prayer. For ten years he had been asking 
God to raise up some Chinaman who would give 
undoubted evidence of pre-eminent consecration to 
God's service. Deacon Wong, the merchant who 
had decided to close his shop on Sunday and join 
the church, had won an enviable reputation for reli- 
ability and had become very rich. While erecting 
a block of buildings the idea of building a chapel 
presented itself to him. This he did on his own 
property and at his own charges, and dedicated it 
for all time to the worship of God, Here he 
preached three times a week and when Doctor 
Yates occasionally visited the chapel he found it 
full of attentive listeners. 



I02 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

In the summer of 1887, Doctor Yates had a 
partial stroke of paralysis, but recovered sufficiently 
to continue his work of translating and to push the 
publication of the New Testament in the colloquial 
dialect, the translation of which he had finished as 
far as the book of Revelation. At the meeting of 
the State Convention of North Carolina, in No- 
vember, the additional amount necessary for the 
erection of the dwelling-house in Chinkiang was 
raised and the telegram announcing the fact real- 
ized the long-cherished hope of the veteran mis- 
sionary. Work was begun at once. Doctor Yates 
superintending it. This was the last effort of his 
life. In February following, while at Chinkiang, 
he was again stricken with paralysis and a month 
later, March 17, 1888, he entered into rest. After 
forty years of active service for the land of his 
adoption, there, where he wished it to occur, he 
finished his course and received his crown of re- 
joicing. He had often expressed the wish to die 
in China, that in the resurrection he might arise 
with the sheaves he had gathered from its ripen- 
ing harvest fields. 

Doctor Yates had planned that the Chinkiang 
house should cost $1,000 more than the Board 
had appropriated. After his death Mr. Bryan 
went to Mrs. Yates and explained the matter to 
her, telling her it was not too late to draw in the 
foundations and build a smaller and a good house 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION IO3 

within the appropriation of the Board. She 
thanked him for coming and said, ** Go on and 
carry out his plan and present the bill to me." It 
was her delight thus to fulfill his desires and plans. 
Doctor Yates' strength and virtue need no enco- 
mium, but the world does not yet know the quiet, 
gentle, but none the less powerful spirit of the 
wife who survived him. He still lived in her. 
She gave up her salary and moved away from the 
mission house, but remarked to Mr. Bryan one 
day, " The older I grow the more of a missionary 
I become." 

On the last day of the year 1888, a year so sadly 
memorable, the mission was gladdened by the 
arrival of Mr. and Mrs. T. C. Britton and Mr. E. F. 
Tatum. The Central China Mission seemed to 
have peculiar claims on North Carolina, all these 
being natives of that State. The year following 
Mr. and Mrs. Britton removed to Soochow, where 
a native helper had labored for some years, organ- 
ized a church, and done the work of an evangelist, 
and where Mrs. Yates, with a generosity that was 
characteristic of her, had built a two-storied mis- 
sion house at a cost of ^1,200. Miss Alice Flagg 
joined the mission in November, 1889, and a 
month later was married to Mr. Tatum. On the 
fifth of February, 1889, ^ ^^^ totally destroyed 
the chapel, dwelling-house, and all the property of 
the missionaries at Chinkiang. The missionaries 



104 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

fled to Shanghai, where they were welcomed with 
great kindness and sympathy. Antipathy to them 
and their work had nothing to do with the upris- 
ing, as it was directed against foreigners as such. 
The matter was promptly reported to the United 
States government, and the Chinese government 
made ample reparation for the destruction of the 
property, and the missionaries were soon as com- 
fortable as before the disaster. 

The mission received another welcome addition 
in Mr. and Mrs. L. N. Chappell, of North Carolina, 
who sailed for China in February, 1889. Mr. 
Chappell was a tutor in Wake Forest College and 
was aroused by Mr. Bryan's burning love for the 
heathen. Mr. and Mrs. Chappell joined Messrs. 
Bryan and Hunnex at Chinkiang. 

In his report for 1890, Mr. Bryan told of a new 
plan that he had adopted in his work at the out- 
stations. Instead of renting a room and employ- 
ing a chapel keeper, he paid a small sum, usually 
eighteen cents, for the privilege of preaching in a 
tea shop. He always sought the same shops and, 
if he went at the right time, was always sure of an 
audience in which all classes were represented. 
Tea shops were the newspapers of China; there the 
latest news was discussed, business was transacted, 
and difficulties were settled. It was Mr. Bryan's 
plan to preach, sing, and talk with those who came 
in, and after placing tracts on the walls to preach 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION IO5 

during his absence, to go away and leave them to 
discuss the good news. Work in Chinkiang, dur- 
ing 1 89 1, was seriously interfered with by con- 
tinuous rioting, thousands of dollars' worth of prop- 
erty belonging to the Roman Catholic Church 
being destroyed, though the dissatisfaction of the 
people seemed to be with the existing state of 
things rather than with the foreigners, and very 
little Protestant property was destroyed. The re- 
sult of these riots was to bring mission work to 
the attention of the imperial throne. A decree was 
issued that missionaries were worthy of respect and 
must be protected by the officials of the land. 

In the autumn the mission was reinforced by 
the arrival of Miss N. A. Miner and Mr. L. W. 
Pierce, who were married a few months later and 
removed to Yangchow, there to open a station. 
Yangchow is a large and wealthy city situated on 
the Grand Canal, about fifteen miles from Chin- 
kiang. In June, 1892, Mr. Herring tendered his 
resignation to the Foreign Mission Board, having 
adopted the views entertained by the members of 
the Gospel Mission. After Mr. Herring's with- 
drawal from the mission Mr. Bryan removed to 
Shanghai, and soon after his arrival opened a 
chapel outside the East Gate. This section was 
very destitute and Mr. Bryan felt that an evan- 
gelist ought to be always at hand, and a guest 
room, with Christian literature to be read and kept 



I06 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

on sale, ought to be accessible twelve hours in the 
day. He went to consult Mrs. Yates, who listened 
to his arguments for a few moments and then said : 
" You need not try to persuade me ; go and begin 
this work and I will pay the expense of it." Her 
gifts supported the work for some time after her 
death. In 1899 there was, at this point, a boys' 
school, a girls' school, and an organized church of 
eleven members. 

In November, 1892, the missionaries met in 
Soochow and organized the Central China Baptist 
Missionary Conference. As soon as this organ- 
ization was perfected, it was proposed to organize 
the five Baptist churches in the two missions into 
a Baptist Association. The Shanghai church had 
heretofore affiliated with the American Baptist 
Missionary Union ; but as the Chinese Christians 
had expressed some interest in organizing to send 
evangelists to their countrymen, it was deemed 
best to encourage them. The year 1893 was 
marked by unusual blessing to the missions in and 
around Shanghai. Years of untiring effort had 
preceded it, and it was immediately prefaced by a 
call to prayer on the part of native and foreign 
workers. On January 9 an evangelical meeting 
was begun, in which most of the missionaries and 
native workers were engaged for four weeks. 
Messrs. Bryan and Tatum continued to hold 
services, and much interest and enthusiasm was 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION IO7 

manifested. Christians were revived and strength- 
ened in the faith, and some hopeful converts were 
gathered into the churches. March 24, 1894, the 
Shanghai mission lost in Mrs. Yates its stanchest 
friend. She was known to all the missionaries as 
" Mother Yates," and it was to her they came 
when they reached this foreign land. Her home 
was a refuge in sickness or distress, and her 
motherly heart was ever ready with counsel and 
sympathy. 

After a visit to the home-land, Mr. Bryan re- 
turned to Shanghai in the autumn of 1894, accom- 
panied by Miss Charlotte Price, Miss Kelly, Miss 
Julia Mackenzie, and Rev. W. W. Lawton. Misses 
Price and Kelly remained in Shanghai, thus in- 
creasing the force of foreign workers at that sta- 
tion to six, the largest number since the early his- 
tory of the mission. Miss Mackenzie joined the 
Chappells at Chinkiang, and Mr. Lawton, after a 
few months at Soochow, located in Chinkiang. 
The year 1896 brought to Mr. Bryan the opportu- 
nity to engage in a work that had long been on 
his heart. He organized a class to meet once a 
week and study the life of Christ from Doctor 
Broadus' " Harmony of the Gospels." Soon after 
this class for Bible study was organized there 
sprang up in the church a spirit of willing service 
that resulted in the formation of two bands of vol- 
unteer workers, one among the men and one 



I08 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

among the women. Mrs. Tatum organized a 
woman's missionary society, that proved very help- 
ful and successful. The money collected was used 
for the spread of the gospel among the heathen 
women of China. 

School work has always been a prominent fea- 
ture of the Central China Mission. In 1896 seven 
schools were under its care, one of these being 
the Associational school, a new enterprise. The 
Shanghai, Quinsan, and Soochow churches united 
to form an Association, and appointed a school 
committee, composed of Mrs. Seaman, Doctor 
Yates' daughter, Mr. Bryan, Mr. Britton, and 
three native brethren. The committee opened a 
boarding and day school combined, on the self- 
supporting basis, and succeeded beyond their most 
sanguine hopes. Mrs. Seaman gave the school a 
good building and a liberal contribution for repairs 
and furniture. Encouraged by the success of the 
boys' school, the committee opened one for girls in 
February, 1897. The great object of all these 
schools was to teach the people the gospel. 

The fiftieth anniversary of the Shanghai Baptist 
church was celebrated on November 6, 1897. It 
was a jubilee year, indeed, in that it was a year 
of special blessing in many ways. The principal 
feature of the day was the history of the church, 
prepared by the secretary, Wong Sing San. Be- 
ginning with six missionaries and two native evan- 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION IO9 

gelists from Canton, the church had grown to be 
a self-supporting body of over a hundred members. 
In the afternoon the children celebrated the first 
decade of the Sunday-school. On the eighth the 
Association met, and the Baptist churches of Chin- 
kiang and Yangchow were received as members. 

On October 14, 1897, the mission gained a 
valuable worker, already trained, by the marriage 
of Mr. Lawton to Miss Ida C. Deaver, of the 
Methodist Mission at Chinkiang. Mr. Lawton is 
an active, energetic missionary, always alert for 
new ways of reaching the people. His chapel 
at Chinkiang was opened as a sort of reading 
room, and the chapel keeper sat within to converse 
with those who came, or to show the books on the 
table. A house known as the Beggars' Home, 
where an average of fifty men slept on cold winter 
nights, was looked after by the mission. The ob- 
ject of this house was to afford lodging for poor, 
homeless fellows, who could not afford to pay for 
lodgings at cheap inns. At first no charge was 
made, but afterward a small fee was required of 
those who could afford to pay it. One month in 
the winter of 1898, nine hundred and three men 
were housed. In the winter of 1898 Mr. Lawton 
opened schools among the famine refugees from 
the Shantung province, who came down the canal 
and lived in huts made of bamboo mats. Natives 
and foreigners gave them what relief they could. 



no MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

As the church at the North Gate of Shanghai 
had become self-supportmg, and a large sum had 
been offered for the mission dwellings, they were 
sold. Eight times as much land was secured out- 
side of the city and foreign concessions, but in 
a position to be taken in by an enlargement of 
the American concession. Three comfortable and 
substantial houses were arranged for in place of 
the two old ones, and there was room for two 
schools. Mrs. Seaman gave the building for the 
girls* school, naming it " The Eliza Yates Girls' 
School." 

The year 1898 was one of progress at Yang- 
chow, though there were no additions to the 
church. A church building was completed, and 
Mr. Pierce rejoiced in the first church building 
in the city. The country work opened up with 
brighter prospects than ever before. Mr. Pierce 
received many calls to go out and teach inquirers, 
and in two villages he was offered chapels if 
he would go and teach in them. The mission 
welcomed three valuable additions in 1899, Miss 
Alice Parker, and Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Crocker. 
Mr. Crocker was an experienced worker, having 
been in China for several years under the 
Gospel Mission movement. He resigned from 
this work, and after two years in the United States 
offered himself to the Foreign Mission Board. Mr. 
and Mrs. Crocker located at Chinkiang. When 



CENTRAL CHINA MISSION I I I 

the Boxer uprising drove the missionaries from 
Chinkiang, Mr. and Mrs. Crocker went to Fuku- 
oka, Japan, and there, on September 15, 1900, 
Mrs. Crocker entered into rest. 

During the Boxer troubles the missionaries of 
the Central China Mission not resident in Shang- 
hai had to leave their fields temporarily, but none 
suffered any harm. In Shanghai the work went 
on with slight interruptions, and at no time were 
the missionaries forbidden to preach in the foreign 
concessions. As soon as quiet was restored, the 
missionaries returned to their fields to find the 
prospect as bright, if not more hopeful, than ever 
before. The field occupied by the Central China 
Mission has been marked by peculiar difficulties ; 
its discouragements have been great and its har- 
vests long delayed ; but the missionaries hope that 
the time of awakening has come, and that God 
will manifest his power in the midst of this people. 



VI 

NORTH CHINA MISSION 

THE Foreign Mission Board and the missionaries 
at Shanghai had been anxiously awaiting the 
opening of north China to foreigners in order that 
they might enter with the gospel. In anticipation 
of this event, Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Holmes had, in 
1859, been appointed to the Shantung province, 
and were to remain in Shanghai until it should be 
opened. Mr. Holmes was a man of clear and 
strong intellect and independent spirit. His 
charm of person and manner peculiarly fitted him 
for work among the Chinese, to whom such quali- 
ties are very attractive. He was brought up in 
the Methodist faith, but in studying the subject of 
Christian baptism he changed his views and united 
with the Baptist church. From the time of his 
acceptance of Christ, he had been impressed by 
the duty of going to China as a missionary and 
had directed his studies to that end. Mrs. Holmes 
came of an earnest missionary family, an aunt of 
hers being for many years a missionary in India. 
Her mother rejoiced in her daughter's purpose 
to become a missionary. 
112 



NORTH CHINA MISSION II3 

Tungchow, the objective point of the mission- 
aries, was at that time a city of about a hundred 
thousand inhabitants, and is situated about five 
hundred miles from Shanghai. No foreign trade 
was allowed, and it was necessary to establish a 
mission or some agency at Chefoo, a treaty port, 
so that the mission at Tungchow might be fur- 
nished with necessary supplies. In May, 1859, 
Mr. and Mrs. Holmes went to Chefoo with the 
intention of settling at Tungchow, but they were 
compelled to return to Shanghai until the war 
between China and the French and English was 
over. When peace was restored, in the autumn 
of i860, Mr. Holmes went to Chefoo, rented and 
repaired a house, and returned to Shanghai for his 
family. Mr. and Mrs, Hartwell, both of whom 
were suffering from ill health, decided to return 
with him, hoping to find a more favorable climate. 
After a few weeks in Chefoo, Messrs. Hartwell 
and Holmes went on a tour of inspection to Tung- 
chow and Hwanghien. They decided that Mr. 
Hartwell should remove to Tungchow and open 
a station, while Mr. Holmes should remain in 
Chefoo. Mr. Hartwell rented a vacant pawn- 
broker's shop for a residence, but found it impos- 
sible to secure a place for public services, owing 
to an opposition that sprang up. Undeterred, Mr. 
Hartwell fitted up a room in his own house. 
Though opposed by the literati^ the common 

H 



114 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

people heard him gladly and the work opened up 
encouragingly. 

In the autumn of 1861, the country around 
these stations was desolated by hordes of rebel 
banditti. They menaced the city of Chefoo, and 
in October, Mr. Holmes, in company with Mr. H. 
M. Parker, of the Episcopal mission, went out to 
the rebel camp, some twenty-five miles from the 
city, hoping to make some arrangements for their 
own safety, if not for that of the town. They did 
not return, and after eight days of great anxiety 
and uncertainty as to their fate, a party of foreign- 
ers, who had gone out to search for them, found 
their mutilated bodies and brought them back. 
They rest on the green island at the entrance to 
the harbor of Chefoo. Soon after their arrival in 
China, Mr. Holmes said to his wife : "If I 
thought I should die and leave you alone, leave 
you to go all that long way back by yourself, I 
should find it hard to say, 'Thy will be done.' " 
She answered : " I would not go back ; I would 
stay here and work." When the great sorrow 
came to her, she was unchanged in her decision, 
preferring to live and work among those for whom 
her husband had sacrificed his life. 

In October, 1862, the North Street Baptist 
Church was organized in Tungchow with eight 
members, including the Hartwells and Mrs. 
Holmes. On the same day three others were 



NORTH CHINA MISSION II5 

received and baptized. This church increased 
more rapidly at first than those in the southern 
ports, and when Mr. Hartwell left for Shanghai, 
early in 1864, there were eighteen members. The 
hard times incident to the Civil War in the United 
States began to affect the mission soon after its 
establishment. The missionaries endeavored to 
support themselves and carry on the work, and 
they were saved from actual suffering by the gen- 
erous aid of friends in Maryland and Kentucky. 
Dr. G. W. Burton, a former missionary associate 
in Shanghai, made large contributions to the mis- 
sion and relieved many pressing needs. 

Doctor and Mrs. Crawford came to Tungchow 
in August, 1863, to take charge of the mission, 
while Mr. Hartwell went to Shanghai to allow 
Doctor Yates a much-needed rest. Writing home 
about this time. Doctor Crawford said that the 
work went on in all departments the same as when 
the Board was able to support it, except that no 
books were printed. Mr. Hartwell remained in 
Shanghai two years, and on his return, in 1865, 
the church numbered twenty-three native mem- 
bers. He again took charge of the mission, and 
it was agreed that Doctor Crawford should open 
an independent mission in another part of the city. 
Mr. Hartwell's return rendered it necessary for 
Doctor Crawford to secure a home for himself. 
He committed the purchase to his teacher, who 



Il6 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

bought it in his own name and rented it to Doctor 
Crawford, as, notwithstanding treaty rights, this 
seemed to be the only way to secure it. The pur- 
chase awakened the dormant antipathy to foreign- 
ers ; placards were immediately posted in different 
parts of the city, calling on the people to rise up 
and prevent the foreigners from occupying the 
house. A messenger was dispatched to the United 
States consul at Chefoo, who came promptly and 
notified the mandarin that he would take posses- 
sion of the property the next day. When the little 
company of foreigners entered the house early the 
following afternoon, they posted a notice, with the 
seal of the United States attached, and hoisted the 
American flag. The determined spirit of the 
United States consul and the missionaries to main- 
tain their treaty rights greatly lessened the oppo- 
sition to foreigners acquiring homes. 

The house thus secured by Doctor Crawford 
was situated in one of the highest, neatest, and 
most populous sections of the city, near several 
temples and a large literary hall, all places of 
resort. It was built of unhewn stone and covered 
with sedge grass, and while the rooms were small, 
one was large enough for a chapel. In December, 
1866, Doctor Crawford organized the Pai Tong 
Baptist church, composed of eight members, four 
natives and four foreigners. One of the first-fruits 
of his labors was a deacon in the Presbyterian 



NORTH CHINA MISSION 11/ 

church, who became convinced that immersion was 
the command of Christ and wished to unite with 
the Baptist church. For five years he had been 
a consistent Christian and the Presbyterians were 
loth to give him up. Doctor Crawford felt that 
the field was encouraging, the people superior to 
those in the great Yangtse plain, more hardy, 
manly, and straightforward, and with habits more 
favorable to the propagation of the gospel. It was 
his opinion that the leading truths of Christianity 
had more thoroughly permeated the masses in the 
eastern part of the Shantung province, after seven 
years of preaching by a few missionaries, than they 
had the people in the vicinity of Shanghai with all 
the labor expended there. 

In the spring of 1867, Mr. Hartwell succeeded, 
after much anxiety and effort, in renting two 
rooms in a most desirable locality in the heart of 
the city of Hwanghien. He opened a promising 
station in charge of a native helper. Mr. Hartwell 
devoted much time to visiting in the country, 
spending three days in every ten in this way, and 
maintaining services at three outstations. At 
Tungchow he held preaching services on Sundays 
and three nights out of every ten, a weekly church 
prayer meeting, two Bible classes, one for men 
and one for women, besides the daily reading and 
explaining of the Scriptures at evening worship, 
which was open to all who wished to attend. 



I 1 8 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Mrs. Hartwell was untiring in her efforts for the 
women. Her class was very well attended, and 
she was encouraged by the interest and attention 
of its members. She visited the sick, and in this 
way reached many who would never come to the 
chapel. She introduced vaccination among the chil- 
dren, and when she could obtain vaccine matter, had 
no lack of subjects. Two Chinese women were con- 
verted and baptized, the first-fruits of her efforts. 
Mrs. Holmes and Mrs. Crawford were also actively 
engaged in educational work, house to house visit- 
ing, and instructing in the truths of the Bible 
those who came into their homes. 

Interest in Christianity deepened and broadened 
in the Shantung province during the years 1868— 
1869. There were frequent and noteworthy con- 
versions. The missionaries rejoiced in the power 
and influence of the native Christians as they dis- 
seminated knowledge among their neighbors, rela- 
tives, and friends. At one town Mr. Hartwell 
visited, a few native Christians gathered a large 
congregation of earnest, interested listeners, who 
came for three nights, and maintained as good 
order as in any of the chapels where they had been 
trained to behave. Mr. Hartwell said one would 
have thought he was preaching to a congregation 
of converts, or at least of trained church-goers, in- 
stead of to a crowd that had never seen a Chris- 
tian missionary. The work also assumed a new 



NORTH CHINA MISSION II9 

feature, as the people from a distance who had in 
some way heard of and become interested in the 
truth, came to Tungchow for more full and care- 
ful instruction. These inquirers, both men and 
women, came from distances varying from fifteen 
to seventy miles, and remained for weeks, and even 
months, to attend services and to be taught the 
way of life more perfectly. The mission furnished 
them lodging while they bore the rest of the ex- 
pense. The little church, under Mr. Hartwell's 
care, began to put forth its strength in direct mis- 
sionary work. The members decided to open and 
furnish a chapel at Shang Tswong, and it was 
agreed that Mr. Hartwell, or one of his assistants, 
should spend at least one Sabbath in each month 
there. On the other Sabbaths the members in the 
neighborhood met for singing, reading, and prayer. 
In the winter of iS6y-i868, it was confidently 
asserted that at the new year all the missionaries 
were to be murdered. They were accused of kid- 
napping women and children in order to get their 
eyes and hearts for medicinal uses, and indeed, 
all manner of atrocities was attributed to them. 
These rumors caused no special uneasiness until 
the massacre of several Roman Catholic missiona- 
ries at Tien-tsin created the impression that a 
general uprising against foreigners would occur. 
Work was accordingly suspended, and the mis- 
sionaries, deeming it wise to seek the protection 



120 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

of the foreign warships in Chefoo, left their houses 
in charge of trusty servants under the mandarin's 
protection. During his stay in Chefoo, Mr. Hart- 
well stopped with one of the native members, 
whom he had baptized ten years before, that he 
might be near the chapel and able to maintain 
regularly some extra services. This chapel had 
been built and presented to the church by his 
host, who was a poor man at the time of his con- 
version, but who had grown very rich, and seemed 
deeply sensible of his obligation to God in the use 
of his money. 

The most noteworthy advance in the year 1870 
was the call and ordination of the first native min- 
ister of the gospel in Shantung province, Woo 
Tswun Chau. This brother was an earnest, relia- 
ble, intelligent, and well-informed Christian, and 
had been associated with Mr. Hartwell for ten 
years. The mission sustained a severe loss in the 
death of Mrs. Hartwell, in June, 1870. Full of 
determination, courage, earnestness, faithfulness, 
and discretion, she was peculiarly adapted to mis- 
sionary life, and left the impress of her character 
on her pupils, the women she instructed, the 
church, and multitudes of the heathen. Soon 
after Mrs. Hartwell's death her husband returned 
to America with his four motherless children, 
leaving the church in charge of pastor Woo. 

Mrs. Holmes returned to Tungchow in 1870, 



NORTH CHINA MISSION 121 

and having moved into a new and convenient 
house, opened a school for girls. She had many 
visitors among the women, who came to see her 
and her new house, and in the little chapel, which 
she had neatly fitted up for the purpose, she 
taught them the way of life. In the summer of 
1872 the mission rejoiced over the arrival of Miss 
Edmonia Moon, of Virginia, a young woman of 
resolute, independent character, and strong, well- 
trained intellect, who bade fair to be a valuable 
addition to the missionary force. Doctor Crawford 
wrote home : '' Miss Edmonia Moon promises to 
be a real missionary ; only send out another of the 
same character to labor with her," little knowing 
that the request was soon to be answered by the 
application, acceptance, and prompt embarkation 
of Miss Lottie Moon, the elder sister of Miss Ed- 
monia. Highly educated, and accustomed to 
teaching. Miss Lottie was well fitted for the work 
to which God called her. She was converted 
while attending the seminary now known as Hol- 
lins Institute, and was baptized by Dr. John A. 
Broadus. It was said that her conversion made a 
marked change in her. Her call to the missionary 
life was no uncertain one. At a ministers' and 
deacons' meeting her pastor. Rev. R. B. Headden, 
of Cartersville, Ga., proposed that special prayer be 
offered the Lord of the harvest that he would send 
forth more laborers into his field. On his return 



122 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

home he preached a sermon on the subject, and 
this sermon reawakened and deepened Miss Moon's 
conviction, already strong, to go in person to the 
heathen, and she soon after offered herself for the 
work. The North China Mission owes much to 
her intelligent, enterprising, and energetic efforts. 

For several years Doctor Crawford had been 
urging the erection of a church building in Tung- 
chow, and earnestly planning for it. The chapel 
was finished and dedicated in 1872, and was pro- 
nounced by natives and foreigners a beautiful 
structure. The name, Shing Whe Tong, signified 
Holy Assembly Hall. The church numbered fifty 
persons, contributed twenty dollars by monthly 
collections, and rented a chapel in a village two 
miles distant, where two of the brethren held serv- 
ice each Sabbath. 

In the summer of 1872, Doctor Hartwell re- 
turned to China, having married, while in the 
United States, Miss Julia Jewett, of Macon, Ga., 
the sister of his former wife. He found that pas- 
tor Woo had proved equal to the responsibility im- 
posed upon him, and had managed the church with 
a great deal of discretion and propriety. Some of 
the members seemed to think that Doctor Hartwell 
would at once assume the pastorate, and they 
would be relieved of the necessity of sustaining a 
pastor, but Mr. Woo met this feeling with spirit 
and combated it. He told them that he was ready 



NORTH CHINA MISSION 1 23 

to resign the charge, but that he would never be 
sustained in the ministry by funds drawn from 
foreign churches ; that they were indebted to for- 
eigners for the introduction of Christianity, for the 
founding of this church, and for the use of the 
building in which they worshiped, but they had no 
right to expect nor to ask foreigners to sustain a 
pastor for them. They were now already an or- 
ganized church, which he hoped would continue 
until the second coming of Christ. Instead of 
their being dependent upon the missionaries the 
missionaries ought to be dependent on them. 

Convinced of the many advantages of Chefoo, 
the port of entry on the gulf of Pechili, as a mis- 
sion station. Doctor Hartwell removed thither in 
1873, and availed himself of the offer of Mr. Wil- 
liam Brown, of the English Baptist Missionary So- 
ciety, to use the chapel connected with the hos- 
pital he had just opened in that city. Chefoo was 
far enough from Tungchow to establish a separate 
interest, yet near enough for Doctor Hartwell to 
oversee the church there, and was not distant from 
the outstations. The work opened encouragingly 
and congregations were good. The population 
was a floating one, which perhaps in part accounted 
for the fact that few professed faith in Christ. An 
additional reason for Doctor Hartwell's removal 
was the ill health of his wife. The change did not 
benefit her, and they returned to America. 



124 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Slowly but surely the work progressed. The 
gospel was preached by native brethren to at least 
two hundred and fifty different villages, which con- 
tained from a hundred to a thousand inhabitants, 
and tracts and portions of the Scripture were dis- 
tributed. The women of the mission visited about 
two hundred villages within one year, distant from 
one to twenty-five miles. The little band was not 
suffered to remain long unbroken, for Miss Ed- 
monia Moon's health failed utterly and she was 
compelled to leave the field in the autumn of 1876. 
Her sister. Miss Lottie, accompanied her, remained 
a year, then, seeing her sister much improved, re- 
turned to Tungchow in December, 1877. This 
was a time of seed sowing, the church steadily in- 
creasing, though in the midst of much discour- 
agement. The missionaries were received in the 
homes in a more friendly spirit than in former 
years, but the wealthy and influential men of Tung- 
chow resolutely opposed the gospel and refused to 
employ any who attended upon a Christian church. 
There were few converts and those who came 
seemed much influenced by the surrounding hos- 
tility. 

Early in 1882 the mission rejoiced over the 
arrival of Messrs. N. W. Halcomb and C. W. Pruitt. 
Both of these young men were, early in life, in- 
spired by the desire to preach the gospel and this 
desire deepened into longing for the missionary 



NORTH CHINA MISSION 1 25 

life. In September, Mr. Pruitt married Miss Ida 
R. Tiffany, who had been sent to Chefoo by the 
Woman's Missionary Society of the Northwest 
(Presbyterian). A fellow-worker said of her that 
she was a real missionary, with heart thoroughly 
enlisted in the work of the Lord. As the English 
language was in such growing demand in China 
the missionaries were determined to introduce it 
in the curriculum of the schools for boys and girls. 
This would enable the new missionaries to begin 
work at once and it was hoped that in time the 
support of the schools could thus be laid on the 
Chinese, an end greatly to be desired. 

In January, 1884, the mission welcomed Miss 
Mattie Roberts, of Kentucky, who came out sup- 
ported by the children of South Carolina as a 
memorial to Mrs. Mary G. Harley. She was 
known as the Mary Harley missionary, Mr. Hal- 
comb and Miss Roberts were married in July and 
with Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt decided to locate in 
Hwanghien. They encountered such violent op- 
position in their attempt to rent a suitable dwell- 
ing that they were compelled to abandon the plan 
for a time and remain in Tungchow. Here in 
October, 1884, Mrs. Pruitt was called to lay down 
the work to which she had so cheerfully given her 
life and for which she had unquestionably proved 
her ability. '* The same God who had called her 
to the work gave her an early discharge." 



126 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

The year 1884, according to Doctor Crawford, 
was distinguished by hard trials, hard work, and 
little apparent success. The prospect of war with 
France kept the minds of the people in a state of 
continued excitement. At the beginning of the 
year the boarding schools were given up. Doctor 
Crawford believed it unwise to use Board money 
for this purpose, and indeed in any way by which 
pecuniary expectations were excited in the minds 
of the Chinese. The North Street Church had 
disbanded, having ceased to have meetings of any 
kind. In May, 1885, Mrs. Halcomb entered into 
rest. After her death, Mr. Halcomb, finding that 
he differed on some theological questions from the 
body which sent him out, tendered his resignation 
and accepted the position of acting United States 
Consul at Chefoo. 

Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Davault and Mr. and Mrs. 
J. M. Joiner sailed for China in November, 1884. 
They remained in Tungchow until they were 
somewhat familiar with the language and then 
established a missionary home at Hwanghien, 
and opened work there, making gratifying prog- 
ress. Only a brief time of co-working was granted 
them. In 1888 Mrs. Joiner was compelled by ill 
health to return to America, and Mr. Davault was 
called into the Master's presence. Mr. Davault's 
last letter to the Board, received after his death, 
was a stirring appeal for reinforcement, and ex- 



NORTH CHINA MISSION 12/ 

pressed his desire to live and, if need be, to die for 
the people of Hwanghien. Mrs. Davault decided 
to live and work in the field for which her husband 
pleaded so earnestly and remained in Hwanghien 
with Mr. Pruitt, who had married Miss Anna 
Seward, of the Presbyterian mission, and had 
taken up the work laid down by Messrs. Joiner 
and Davault. 

Miss Moon spent the winter of 1 885-1 886 in 
the city of Pingtu, which has since become such 
an important and flourishing station. The Pingtu 
region is a broad valley dotted over with thick 
clusters of villages stretching in every direction. 
This region is about a hundred and fifty miles 
from Tungchow, in the midst of a fine agricultural 
section, and is more than sixty miles from any 
point occupied by missionaries. This field had 
scarcely been touched by missionary endeavor, 
and it was a large, important, and promising one. 
Miss Moon received many invitations to visit in 
the homes and gladly availed herself of the oppor- 
tunity to tell the gospel story to the women and 
girls. 

Mrs. Crawford continued to prosecute her work 
in the villages and towns, and being anxious to 
gain access to the women in the cities as she had 
in the country, she rented a room in the Water 
City, about a mile from her home. This city lies 
between Tungchow proper and the sea, has a wall 



128 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

of its own, and was used as a place of refuge in 
the period of piratical warfare. All the junks lie 
within its walls and behind ponderous gates are 
secure from native attack from without. This ex- 
cited curiosity and many called to learn the reason 
for this unusual movement. The experiment 
proved so successful that she was induced to re- 
peat it in another section of the main city with 
even more satisfactory results. In both places 
many old acquaintances whom she had not seen 
for years visited her and invited her to their homes. 
In her visits she taught the women and girls to 
read Christian books and endeavored to make them 
realize that reading was within the reach of all. 

In response to the urgent appeals of Doctor 
and Mrs. Crawford, Miss Moon, and their associ- 
ates, a large missionary force was sent out in 1889, 
consisting of Mr. and Mrs. T. J. League, Mr. and 
Mrs. G. P. Bostick, Miss Fannie Knight, and Miss 
Laura G. Barton. Miss M. J. Thornton followed in 
1890. Mr. and Mrs. League joined the Pruitts and 
Mrs. Davault at Hwanghien. Mr. Pruitt said of 
the converts at Hwanghien and Saling that they 
more nearly realized his ideal of what people con- 
verted from heathenism ought to be than any others 
he had seen. They had so much genuine broth- 
erly love, which was rare among this politic people. 
Saling was the home of some very faithful Chris- 
tians, who were willing to suffer persecution for 



NORTH CHINA MISSION 1 29 

their faith. Among these was a man who refused 
to worship at the graves of his ancestors thus in- 
curring the displeasure of his relatives, several hun- 
dred in number. Thirty of these men went to his 
house, bound his hands and feet together behind 
him, put him on a pole with his face downward, 
and carried him about a mile to his native village, 
and there tried to make him worship by beating 
him unmercifully. He did not succumb to their 
tortures but thanked God that he was counted 
worthy to suffer for his name. In the midst of 
these persecutions an old man walked to Tung- 
chow, more than a hundred miles, and asked for 
baptism, stating that the way in which Mr. Dan 
bore his persecutions convinced him of the reality 
of Christianity. 

Miss Knight took up her residence in Pingtu, in 
response to Miss Moon's urgent appeals for co- 
workers in that city, and was soon comfortably 
located in a cozy Chinese home, fitted up at her 
own expense. Miss Moon's time was so monopo- 
lized by men coming in from the country and desir- 
ing to talk with her that all aggressive city work 
was necessarily broken up. She also taught such 
women and children as came to her without doing 
much house-to-house visiting. The men around 
Pingtu held services every Sunday at Saling and 
every other Sunday at Pingtu. The journey from 
Tungchow to Pingtu occupied seven days, but the 



130 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

missionaries occasionally visited the latter city and 
administered the ordinance of baptism. 

In the spring of 1890 the mission lost one of its 
most promising workers by the death of Mrs. 
Bostick, which sad event was caused by malignant 
smallpox, and occurred while her husband was 
absent in attendance upon the Shanghai Confer- 
ence. Her gift for languages enabled her to ac- 
quire Chinese with unusual facility, her teacher 
having said that she was the brightest pupil in 
Chinese he had ever seen. Her interest in mis- 
sions dated from her earliest years and her 
thoughts were always turned toward China. Her 
husband found a ready response and a willing co- 
worker when he announced to her his intention of 
becoming a foreign missionary. Practical common 
sense, good judgment, and devotion admirably 
fitted her for missionary life. 

The Tung Lai Association, named from the two 
districts in which the churches composing it are 
located, was organized in 1891. Two native 
brethren were present from each of the four 
churches. The object of the Association was 
that the churches might be united, might act 
together, and be mutually helpful. It had no 
power to govern the local churches, but if they 
received or taught doctrines contrary to the Scrip- 
tures or hurtful to sister churches, the body had 
power to consider and adjust such differences. 



NORTH CHINA MISSION I3I 

To-day the Association is on the same basis as 
those in this country. In the autumn of 1891 
three new missionaries were welcomed to the 
North China Mission, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Sears, 
of Missouri, and Mr. W. D. King, of Georgia. 
The former located in Pingtu, where they have 
since resided and been signally blessed in their 
work. 

The next few years were years of change and 
trial. Sometime before, in 1886, Doctor Craw- 
ford had returned to America to induce the 
American Baptist Missionary Union and the For- 
eign Mission Board to adopt certain views enter- 
tained by him in regard to the conduct of mission 
work on foreign fields. The Foreign Mission 
Board gave him a patient hearing, but did not 
deem it wise to adopt his views as its fixed policy 
and force them on other missionaries. Finding 
himself unable to carry his point, Doctor Crawford 
lost sympathy with the Board, and when requested 
to return to his field declined to do so. He spent 
some months traveling and making speeches, which 
were reported as being derogatory to the interests 
of the Board. From the date of his return until 
1889 he held no communication with the Board, 
though drawing a salary from its treasury. At 
that time he wrote a letter, partly severing his 
connection with the Board, declining to receive a 
salary any longer, but saying that he did not mean 



132 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

by this course of action to resign or sever his con- 
nection with the mission or the Board, but only to 
decline future service. Influenced by this clause 
in his letter and by consideration for an aged 
missionary, who had long worked with it, and 
his noble wife, his name was retained on the list 
of missionaries. About the time he wrote this 
letter he came to America, but held no communi- 
cation with the Board while here. Three years 
later Doctor Crawford published a tract entitled, 
"Churches to the Front," in which he made 
charges against all Boards in general, and espe- 
cially against the Missionary Union and the For- 
eign Mission Boards. This rendered it necessary 
for the Board to sever all connection with him. 
Under these circumstances Mrs. Crawford natu- 
rally felt that when her husband's name was 
dropped, hers should also be, and sent in her 
resignation, which the Board accepted with sincere 
regret. 

Doctor Crawford's views had gradually perme- 
ated the mission and gained other adherents, and 
in 1892, Mr. and Mrs. League, Mr. and Mrs. Bos- 
tick (Mr. Bostick having married Miss Thornton), 
Miss Knight, and Mr. King in 1893, severed their 
connection with the Board and engaged in an 
independent work, uniting themselves together 
under the designation of the " Gospel Mission." 
The views entertained by them demanded that 



NORTH CHINA MISSION 1 33 

missionaries should live in Chinese style, should 
constantly itinerate and preach the gospel far and 
wide, that no chapels should be erected nor schools 
established, and no native helpers of any kind 
employed. The Board might not have been un- 
willing for missionaries to try this proposed 
method, though it did not consider the proposal 
promising, as its policy assumed to allow the mis- 
sionaries the widest liberty as to methods in their 
respective fields ; but the Board could not endorse 
the rest of the plan. This plan required that the 
missionaries be supported by individual churches, 
or groups of churches, entirely independent of the 
Board, which should have nothing to do with the 
money, unless to transmit it without cost, and to 
have no control over or direction of the mission- 
aries. The ultimate result of this movement 
would have been the disintegration of the Southern 
Baptist Convention and the destruction of all or- 
ganized work of the denomination. The retirement 
of so many workers from the North China Mission 
naturally crippled the work for a time, but the 
missionaries who adhered to the Board were spared 
the friction of differing views among them by the 
removal of the members of the Gospel Mission to 
open a station farther west. 

In the autumn of 1893 Mr. and Mrs. Peyton 
Stephens, of Missouri, and Doctor and Mrs, Hart- 
well, of California, were welcomed to the depleted 



134 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

ranks of the mission. Mr. and Mrs. Stephens 
located in Hwanghien and Doctor Hartwell re- 
turned to his old church and mission work at 
Tungchow. His arrival was hailed with great joy 
by both natives and missionaries. Four of his 
flock had never ceased to pray for his return, and 
after nearly twenty years' absence his memory 
was still cherished in the hearts of his people. 
It was his pleasure, soon after his return, to attend 
the meeting of the Tung Lai Association, held 
with the Shang Tswong Church, which was really 
the North Street Baptist Church of Tungchow, 
though removed about seventy miles from its 
original home. This church had been organized 
by Doctor Hartwell, in 1862, and was the first 
Protestant church ever organized in the Shantung 
province, or anywhere north of Shanghai. Of the 
ten or twelve Christians whom he left there twenty 
years before, only two remained, the others having 
passed to their reward. Doctor Hartwell was 
greatly pleased with the spirit of the Association 
and the influence exerted upon the hearts of the 
delegates and visitors. 

Early in 1 894 the mission was again called upon 
to rejoice over a most welcome addition and the 
answer to many appeals, in the appointment of 
Dr. H. A. Randle, of Chefoo. Doctor Randle 
had been on the field fourteen years, in the service 
of the China Inland Mission, and was thoroughly 



NORTH CHINA MISSION I35 

equipped as a preacher and physician. He was 
highly recommended by the missionaries on the 
field and more than justified the hopes which his 
coming awakened. Mr. Sears, who had come to 
know him intimately and had urged his appoint- 
ment, welcomed him as a co-worker at Pingtu. 
Other signs of progress in the mission was the 
establishment of two schools, one in Mrs. Pruitt's 
charge for the sons and one in Mrs. Hartwell's 
care for the daughters of the Baptist Christians. 
Both were conducted on strictly economical prin- 
ciples and with constant regard to the highest 
interests of the pupils, physical, intellectual, and 
moral. At Hwanghien the Pruitts were encouraged 
by the first baptisms in connection with the church 
since its foundation, more than six years before. 
The year was one of continual rejoicing in the 
Pingtu work. Through the untiring efforts of the 
native Christians, aided by the missionaries, a neat 
little chapel, seating one hundred, was completed 
and dedicated at Saling without one cent of ex- 
pense to the Board. It was said by experienced 
masons that this church would be a good building 
when a hundred years had passed away. 

The year 1895 opened amid the excitement and 
confusion of the Chinese-Japanese war. The mis- 
sionaries were exposed to constant danger, not 
from the people or the Japanese, but from disor- 
ganized bands of soldiers. Some of them, at the 



136 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

summons of the United States consul, sought 
refuge in Chefoo. Tungchow was bombarded, a 
shell striking Miss Moon's house and carrying off 
part of the piazza. Business was at a standstill, 
and panic and dismay were on every side. At the 
street corners knots of gloomy men discussed the 
wild rumors afloat everywhere, and held themselvs 
in readiness to fly at a moment's warning. Miss 
Moon, returning from a trip into the interior, was 
met by hundreds of fugitives fleeing from the city 
after the first bombardment. Her first impulse 
was to return to Hwanghien, but finding the ex- 
pense very great, she decided to remain in Tung- 
chow, and did not regret her decision. In those 
days of gloom and intense excitement, the pres- 
ence of the missionaries gave the people a sense 
of security, as they felt that they were informed, 
and would leave if there were any real danger. 
After a brief stay in Chefoo, Doctor Hartwell re- 
turned to Tungchow, thinking this a golden op- 
portunity to reach the people. For four months 
the church bell rang out its daily invitation, and 
Doctor Hartwell preached with unusual earnest- 
ness, fervor, and spiritual power. Such a time of 
seed-sowing had never before occurred in Tung- 
chow, and the result of the war was to bring the 
people and the missionaries into closer sympathy. 
Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt decided to remain at their 
post, as their presence strengthened the people. 



NORTH CHINA MISSION 1 37 

and as their home was crowded with Christian 
refugees. They were shielded from all harm, and 
were rewarded by seeing the work go forward and 
a marked growth among the native Christians. 
While taking refuge in Cheefoo, Doctor Randle 
spent several months in the Red Cross work, and 
was met by marked appreciation and gratitude 
from most of the wounded soldiers. Gain and 
loss were equally balanced in the North China 
Mission this year. Miss Barton returned home 
for a vacation, and while there married Mr. Z. C. 
Taylor, of Brazil, and exchanged her field of useful- 
ness, remaining still in the service of the Foreign 
Mission Board. A visit to her father at Tungchow 
so impressed Miss Anna Hartwell with its deplora- 
able need of workers that she requested to be 
transferred to that place from Canton. Her re- 
quest was granted, and after a few weeks of study 
she was able to begin regular visiting among the 
women. Two day schools were opened, supported 
without expense to the mission and taught by Chi- 
nese Christian women. 

Schools in the North China Mission have been 
well conducted and at slight expense. In several 
instances the Christians have organized schools 
themselves to which missionaries have lent their 
aid and encouragement. The boys who have 
studied English are in great demand in the postal 
service recently so widely extended in China. The 



138 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

spirit of self-help seems to be generally diffused 
among the Christians in North China, and nearly 
every church-member is a preacher after a fashion. 
In the spring of 1894 Mr. Sears opened work in a 
village near Pingtu City, and in the autumn six 
were baptized. They proved to be very zealous 
workers, and each one became a preacher in his 
own house. The little leaven spread, and when, 
two months later, a church was organized, it was 
composed almost entirely of relatives of the origi- 
nal six. The year 1898 was the best in the history 
of the North China Mission, notwithstanding the 
anti-foreign effects of the German invasion and 
the virtual deposition of the emperor by the em- 
press dowager. There were a hundred and two 
baptisms, more than ever before in any one year, 
of which number Mr. Sears reported eighty-two. 
In the Pingtu district there were baptisms in 
thirty-four villages, in sixteen of which there had 
never been Christians. Thus many new centers 
of influence were opened. A great deal of volun- 
tary work was done in this district, and there was 
not the least discord among the native Christians, 
the members of one church working for and with 
members of other churches as though they were 
all one. Mr. Sears attributed the year's increase 
to two things, unity and work. In the midst of 
their rejoicing, the missionaries were grieved to 
lose Doctor and Mrs. Randle, both of whom re- 



NORTH CHINA MISSION 1 39 

signed on account of a change in their doctrinal 
views. They had done good and efficient work, 
and their labors had proven an ever-increasing 
blessing, not only to the heathen, but to the mis- 
sionaries. 

After several months alone at Pintgu, Mr. Sears 
welcomed as a co-worker a friend and college mate, 
Mr. J. W. Lowe, of Missouri, who added to a thor- 
ough theological training some knowledge of medi- 
cine. Another cause for rejoicing was given the 
missionaries at Pingtu in the answer to many 
prayers that God would raise up a native pastor 
and inspire the church to call and support him. 
As Mr. Sears expected to take a furlough in the 
spring of 1900, and as he was pastor of the four 
churches in the Pingtu district, it became advisable 
to select some one to take his place. Mr. Li, who 
had been Mr. Sears' personal teacher ever since he 
had been in China, and who had been a Christian 
since 1890, felt called to the ministry. He was a 
man of ability, and was loved and honored by all. 
Mr. Sears believed him called of God, and thought 
that much of the success of the Pingtu work was 
due to his efforts. Delegates from the four 
churches met in Pingtu, and after free discussion, 
decided to recommend Mr. Li to the churches. 
His ordination took place in the fall during the 
meeting of the Association at Saling. This was 
the tenth anniversary of the Saling church, and it 



140 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

was an occasion for great rejoicing that the ten 
years closed with a native pastor supported by the 
churches. 

Within the next few months several new mis- 
sionaries were welcomed to North China. In No- 
vember, 1899, Rev. J. C. Owen, of North Carolina, 
arrived at Tungchow, and in the spring of 1900, 
by his marriage with Miss Rebecca Miller, of the 
Presbyterian mission, who soon became a Baptist, 
added another valuable worker to the Baptist force. 
Miss Miller had been in China seven years, and 
was highly esteemed by her fellow-missionaries. 
Miss Mattie Button, of Missouri, joined the mis- 
sion at Tungchow early in 1900, and a few months 
later Miss Thompson, of Kentucky, returned with 
Mr. and Mrs. Stephens to Hwanghien. 

With largely increased forces an era of aggres- 
sive and successful work seemed to open before 
the mission, but the terrible Boxer uprising, ap- 
parently encouraged by the imperial government, 
threw the whole province of Shantung into confu- 
sion and consternation. The Pruitts and Stephens 
remained at Hwanghien as long as they could se- 
cure provisions, but when the Chinese refused to 
accept checks they were forced to take refuge in 
Chefoo. The missionaries at Tungchow also took 
refuge in Chefoo. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe were ad- 
vised to leave Pingtu quietly and promptly, and 
escaped to the German port of Tsingtau only two 



NORTH CHINA MISSION I4I 

days before the Boxers reached Pingtu. A band 
of three hundred Boxers attacked the mission 
Sunday afternoon, July i. Doors and windows 
were broken in, and nothing was left that could 
be carried away. The native Christians suffered 
severely ; thirteen of the church-members were 
caught and dragged to the Yamen, their queues 
being tied to the tails of their enemies' horses. 
The women and children fled to other villages to 
escape the knives of these bloodthirsty robbers 
and murderers. A few days later Mr. Li came 
down to Tsingtau to report the destruction of 
property and the persecution being endured. Mr. 
Lowe tried to persuade him not to return, saying 
his life was too valuable to mission work in China 
to take the risk ; but he replied that he had en- 
joyed living and working with his people, and, if 
need be, he was willing to die with them. 

Though persecution was so severe very few re- 
canted, and of these, some said they recanted with 
their lips and not with their hearts. So far as 
is known, only one of the Christians died from 
persecution. This was an evangelist, who on his 
way home, stopped over night and in the course 
of conversation mentioned his calling. When he 
started on his journey next morning he was fol- 
lowed and taken back to the town where his trav- 
eling bag was searched. As he was somewhat of 
a doctor, several kinds of pills, some santonine, and 



142 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

some eye medicine were found, and these were de- 
clareci to be foreign medicine for poisoning wells 
and for other nefarious ends. The man's hands were 
tied behind him and he was hung up by them while 
a heavy stone was tied to his feet to increase his 
suffering. He died from the effects of his tortures. 

The unsettled state of China is at this writing 
(1901) a serious hindrance to mission work, yet 
the missionaries do not feel discouraged, but be- 
lieve that God in his providence is opening the 
way for far greater triumphs of the gospel. They 
are returning to their fields and new missionaries 
are being appointed. In October, 1900, Dr. T. W. 
Ayers and Mrs. Ayers received their appointment 
to Hwanghien, for which station the Board had 
long been seeking a missionary physician. Doc- 
tor Ayers is a Georgian and goes out supported 
by the Baptist women of that State. 

Change and trial have not been without benefi- 
cent result in the North China Mission. Amid 
uncertainties and discouragements the missionaries 
continue to work with unfaltering faith. The dawn 
of a brighter day seems at hand, yet the laborers 
are few in the whitening harvest and their plea is : 
" Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that 
he will send forth labourers into his harvest." 



VII 

THE MISSION IN LIBERIA 

LIBERIA was settled by emancipated slaves 
and free Negroes from America under the 
auspices of colonization societies organized in the 
United States. The first colonists, eighty-nine in 
number, embarked from New York, January 21, 
1820. Cape Mesurado was purchased December 
15, 1 82 1, and here was begun the germ of the 
Liberian Republic. For a time the government 
was administered by officers appointed by the so- 
ciety, but on August 24, 1847, by the advice of the 
society, the colony proclaimed its independence. 
The Republic of Liberia, with a constitution sim- 
ilar to that of the United States, was organized 
early in the year 1848. 

Missionary operations followed closely upon 
the settlement of the colonists. Deacon William 
Crane, who was teaching a tri-weekly night school 
for the benefit of the many colored Baptists be- 
longing to the First Church of Richmond, assisted 
in organizing the Richmond Baptist Missionary 
Society, in 181 5. This society was organized with 
a view solely to missions in Africa, but was auxil- 

143 



144 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

iary to the Triennial Convention. Lott Carey and 
Colin Teague were sent as missionaries to Liberia, 
in 1 82 1. This was the beginning of American 
Baptist Missions in Africa. Carey and Teague 
with a number of colonists arrived in Monrovia in 
1822. A church was formed in 1823, and six 
were baptized. A year later nine were added by 
baptism and a house of worship was erected. 
Carey, who was a man of unusual intelligence and 
energy, became its pastor. In 1825 he was ap- 
pointed vice-agent of the colony and soon after 
vice-governor. At his death the church numbered 
one hundred members. Other missionaries entered 
the field. Schools were established, books trans- 
lated and prepared, the morals and manners of the 
people greatly improved, the interests of civiliza- 
tion were promoted, and many of the natives ac- 
cepted the gospel. 

As soon as the Southern Baptist Convention de- 
cided to enter Liberia, correspondence was opened 
with the American Baptist Missionary Union in 
regard to a transfer of the mission to the Conven- 
tion, but it was not effected until 1856. The For- 
eign Mission Board, however, determined to enter 
at once upon work in the colony, and in 1846 ap- 
pointed Rev. A. L. Jones, a young and talented 
minister then residing at Cape Palmas, and Rev. 
John Day, who had been for several years in the 
employ of the Missionary Union, as missionaries 



THE MISSION IN LIBERIA I45 

to Liberia. Mr. Jones died before the news of his 
appointment reached him. Mr. Day took charge 
of the church at Bexley, which under his care en- 
joyed uninterrupted and increasing prosperity un- 
til 1854. He was everywhere cordially received 
by the natives, and was encouraged by the atten- 
tion they gave the word and their apparent desire 
for instruction. He organized a manual labor 
school at Bexley, which almost supported its board- 
ing department. Many of the boys were the sons 
of head men and petty kings. The religious in- 
struction they received manifested itself in their 
good behavior. 

In 1849 every settlement in the colony had a 
church, and in every village there was an interest- 
ing Sunday-school ; in these schools about four 
hundred colonists and two hundred natives were 
taught, while to more than ten thousand natives 
the word of God was preached regularly. The 
field was an inviting one. Opportunities for ex- 
erting an influence among the surrounding tribes 
were constantly increasing ; natives were calling 
for the God man to bring his books and teach 
them ; and fields were open for a hundred miles 
into the interior. All the stations were occupied 
by colored persons, who proved a blessing not only 
to the natives but to the numbers of free colored 
emigrants who were constantly coming into the 
country. A civilizing influence was thus exerted 

K 



146 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

over the natives, and some of the blessings of the 
Christian rehgion were brought to them. 

The Board accepted the proposition of Rev. Eli 
Ball to visit the stations on the coast of Africa 
and look into the work, secure definite information, 
and learn the best way of conducting operations. 
Mr. Ball sailed in December, 185 1. His impres- 
sion of most of the missionaries and stations was 
favorable and he reported to the Board that the 
missionaries, though none of them had received 
the advantage of thorough mental training, were 
in advance of the people in piety, talents, and 
knowledge, and advised that they be retained. 
The schools, though susceptible of great improve- 
ment, were doing much good, and in a survey of 
the whole field, he found much to encourage. The 
effect of his visit was so beneficial that he was ap- 
pointed for the same mission in 1853, but while 
he was preparing for the journey God called him 
into rest. 

At the request of the Board, in February, 1854, 
John Day removed to Monrovia to establish and 
take charge of a high school to be known as 
"Day's Hope." This school absorbed all the 
energies of his later life. He wished to make it a 
college where young men could be thoroughly 
trained in every department of knowledge, for he 
said that the sagacious questions often propounded 
by the heathen and the difficulties raised by the 



THE MISSION IN LIBERIA 1 4/ 

Mohammedans were undoubted proof that the 
misionary needed a well-furnished mind. His 
death, in 1859, was a serious loss, as in addition 
to his school work he was superintendent of the 
missions of Liberia and Sierra Leone. From the 
representations of Mr. Bowen and other mission- 
aries, the Board, in 1855, decided to establish a 
mission in Sierra Leone, which was said to be one 
of the most interesting fields on the African coast. 
Here were gathered recaptured slaves from almost 
all parts of the coast and the interior. Christian- 
ized, it was hoped they might become a great 
evangelizing agency to the tribes from which they 
came. The mission was opened with prospect of 
large success. 

Inalienably associated with the Liberian mission 
are the names of Frederick S. James, John H. 
Cheeseman, A. P. Davis, B. J. Drayton, J. T. Rich- 
ardson, Joseph Harden, and B. P. Yates. The last 
named was one of the most valuable men ever 
connected with the work in Liberia. He was 
neither a preacher nor a teacher, but exercised a 
fraternal oversight of the mission, especially in 
times of need, and managed its finances for over 
twenty years. He succeeded Rev. John Day as 
superintendent of the Liberian mission. The re- 
port presented to the Convention of 1861 gave 
twenty-four churches and stations connected with 
the missions of Liberia and Sierra Leone, eighteen 



148 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

pastors, and a total membership of twelve hundred 
and fifty-eight. From time to time the Board 
urged upon the native churches the necessity of 
developing their own resources. These efforts, to 
some extent, proved successful, and the churches 
endeavored to contribute toward the support of 
their pastors and to aid the Board in other ways. 
The effort came none too soon, for in 1861 the 
Board felt compelled to retrench and therefore 
dismissed nearly all the teachers in the mission. 

During the next few years, owing to the Civil 
War in America, all help was withdrawn and the 
native churches were thrown entirely on their own 
resources. Until the war was over but little in- 
formation was received from the mission. The 
Board learned, through letters from Mr. Yates, 
that the churches were alive in spiritual matters 
and a number of converts had been brought in, 
the majority being of the Congo tribe. All the 
missionaries remained at their posts. The schools, 
except those taught by the pastors of the churches 
to which they belonged and two native schools, 
were discontinued. Thus, notwithstanding trial 
and discouragement, the mission passed through 
this crisis without serious loss. When the war 
was over, appeals came from Africa imploring aid. 
The Board was not indifferent to these appeals, 
but seriously considered how far the appropriations 
to the African coast missions should be renewed 



THE MISSION IN LIBERIA I49 

The work had been less expensive and, in the 
number of accessions, more remunerative than 
any other. More than a thousand believers had 
been baptized since the organization of the Con- 
vention, and people and pastors had showed com- 
mendable zeal in maintaining their churches in the 
absence of aid from the United States. The con- 
dition of the treasury, however, forbade any attempt 
to resume work for several years. 

Many considerations moved the Board to such 
resumption in 1871. Their past efforts had been 
attended with gratifying success. Many of their 
contributors had a special interest in this mission. 
Funds had been received from Negro brethren in 
the South for this object, and large portions of 
Africa were yet untouched by the gospel; more- 
over, Southern Baptists had always felt a peculiar 
interest in the spiritual welfare of the Negro race. 
It was thought too, that the African mission should 
be carried on mainly through the agency of colored 
Baptists, thousands of whom in Southern territory 
offered a strong argument against relinquishing 
this mission. It was also hoped that an influence 
for good might be exerted on the Negro churches 
by developing the missionary spirit and that they 
might contribute to the diffusion of light in that 
dark land. With a view to permanent results, it 
was deemed advisable to secure a base of opera- 
tions somewhere on the Liberian coast, where a 



150 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

settled government existed and the missionaries 
would be protected. 

Rev. A. D. Phillips was commissioned, in 1871, 
to visit the coast and explore the interior, with a 
view to establishing mission stations among con- 
tiguous tribes. Two hundred thousand natives 
were resident within the jurisdiction of the Libe- 
rian government and several points offered favor- 
able centers of influence from which to operate. 
Mr. Phillips found the churches maintaining the 
truth committed to them, but needing assistance. 
He journeyed about ninety miles into the interior 
to the Beir country, inhabited by a savage race. 
The king, Zeo, received him with gracious hospi- 
tality. His influence extended over all the sur- 
rounding Bassa tribes, numbering about two hun- 
dred thousand, speaking the same language. Some 
of the people were very anxious to have mission- 
aries sent to them. Mr. Phillips entered into a 
written treaty with the king, who bound himself 
to protect missionaries and teachers, Mr. Phillips 
agreeing that only those should be sent who would 
devote themselves exclusively to preaching and 
teaching. He appointed eight men to labor among 
the natives, subject to the appointment of the 
Board, and returned to America. 

The missionaries at Zeo's Town, in the Beir 
country, were much encouraged by a growing 
reverence for the gospel, respect for the Sabbath, 



THE MISSION IN LIBERIA I5I 

and a regular attendance upon the services that 
were held. An interest seemed to be awakening, 
but intestine troubles arose and the missionaries 
were warned to leave the country. As it was not 
the intention of the Board to sustain missions in 
Liberia, except as posts to carry the gospel to the 
interior, this news, coupled with the cramped con- 
dition of the treasury, led to its withdrawing sup- 
port from all the missionaries and teachers, except 
Yates and Cheeseman, until a suitable white mis- 
sionary could be found and the necessary funds 
raised. The missionaries and teachers were greatly 
distressed and their appeals to the Board were 
most touching, but with one accord, and without 
communication with each other, they resolved to 
go on with the work and trust in God to sustain 
them. The Board, not unmoved by their distress, 
made an appropriation to meet their pressing 
needs. 

Mr. Yates made a stirring appeal to the Baptists 
of America to awake to the responsibility. He 
said they were historically the pioneers of mission 
work in that part of Africa. From the first church 
established in Liberia, the Providence Baptist 
Church of Monrovia, twenty churches had origi- 
nated and the Providence Baptist Association. It 
was apparent that the work must be done by the 
Negroes, who were one with the benighted tribes 
whom they were to uplift. The efforts of the 



152 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

white man, though devoted and self-sacrificing, 
had been a series of disasters and deaths. Two 
theological students from the Richmond Institute 
applied to the Board for appointment in response 
to this appeal. One of these. Rev. W. W. Colley, 
accompanied Mr. David when he sailed for Africa 
in 1875. ^^- David was instructed, if there was 
no prospect of entering the Yoruba country, to 
make another attempt in the Beir territory, east 
of Liberia, from which the missionaries had been 
driven in 1872. Learning that the Yoruba country 
was open to the gospel, Mr. David journeyed there, 
and satisfying himself that the prospect of reo- 
pening the mission was inviting, returned to Mon- 
rovia, settled all accounts, and closed the Liberian 
mission. 



VIII 

I 

THE MISSION IN YORUBA 

THE Yoruba country, in which most of the op- 
erations of the Board have been conducted, 
extends sixty miles inward from the Bight of 
Benin on the west coast of Africa. It is bounded 
by Dahomey and Mahee on the west, and the river 
Niger on the east and north. Mr. Bowen repre- 
sented the whole country as one vast expanse of 
hilly and undulating prairie, much of it being cul- 
tivated by a numerous and industrious people. 
The people are a mixed race, probably of Asiatic 
descent. They are gentle, cleanly, social, polite, 
and not lazy, but are seemingly devoid of con- 
science and destitute of morality. They are said 
to have a good share of common sense, and to be 
shrewd observers of character. Their language is 
rich in abstract terms and in affinities with the 
Latin language, as well as with the Greek, Saxon, 
Hebrew, and Sanscrit. The '' Grammar and Vo- 
cabulary of the Yoruban Tongue," prepared by 
Rev. T. J. Bowen, a pioneer missionary to Central 
Africa, is said to be an admirable contribution to 
philology. The Yorubans were not polytheists, 

153 



154 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

but made God the efficient, though not always the 
instrumental, Creator and Controller. Their idols, 
numbering three or four hundred, they esteemed 
and called intercessors, and all gifts and offerings 
were made to them. They believed in the Furnace 
World, but had no fear of being lost. They did 
not worship Satan, but under the name of Eshi, 
" the ejected," they made offerings to him to con- 
ciliate him, and poured oil on his altar as if to 
mollify his evil disposition. The streets of the 
best and largest cities were narrow and intricate. 
A curious object of each town was the market, 
where everything was sold, from the native rats to 
velvet and other imported articles from the four 
quarters of the globe. 

The attention of the Foreign Mission Board was 
first called to West Africa as a mission field, by the 
proposal of Rev. T. J. Bowen to penetrate the in- 
terior of Africa and preach the gospel to its peo- 
ples. So earnestly did he advocate the opening of 
a mission in West Africa and demonstrate its feasi- 
bility and advantage, that, in 1849, the Board de- 
cided to send him out in company with Mr. Henry 
Goodale and a young colored brother, Robert F. 
Hill. Mr. Bowen was self-educated, but his thirst 
for knowledge and excellent memory enabled him 
to become a man of extensive and varied informa- 
tion. His energy and perseverance were uncon- 
querable, and he was possessed of keen and intel- 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA 1 55 

ligent powers of observation. He served in the 
Creek Indian War and in the Mexican War, and 
became so fascinated with army life that it required 
no httle strength and determination to reUnquish 
it. He resigned his commission under the con- 
viction that he could not become a Christian while 
his heart and life were devoted to military service. 
A long period of seeking after God ended in a 
joyous conversion. Mr. Goodale was first ap- 
pointed to China, but his wife died shortly before 
their expected departure, and he was transferred 
to the West African mission. 

These pioneer missionaries arrived in Monrovia 
in February, 1850, and having heard of a town 
one hundred and fifty miles in the interior that 
was ruled by a civilized king, Mr. Goodale decided 
that this would be a more favorable place to open 
a mission than farther inland. Mr. Bowen accom- 
panied him, hoping to find those who could teach 
him the language spoken on the Niger. On Mr. 
Goodale's arrival, he found that the civilized king 
had been superseded, but he obtained a grant of 
land. Scarcely had he located than he was taken 
ill, and though Mr. Bowen gave him all the care 
possible, he died a month later. ' 

Mr. Bowen was thus left to pursue his investiga- 
tions alone. He spent two years exploring the in- 
terior, and journeyed as far inland as the friendli- 
ness of the natives would permit, though he did 



156 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

not penetrate so far as he had hoped. While 
Livingstone was entering interior Africa from the 
south on his first journey, Bowen was entering the 
Soudan from the west. At one time they were 
within a few degrees of each other, but they never 
met. Bowen's published account of his travels 
and explorations, though in smaller compass, is 
no less interesting than those of Livingstone and 
Stanley. Mr. Bowen spent eighteen months in 
Abbeokuta, the capital of the small, independent 
kingdom of Egba, where he made a study of 
the Yoruban language, learning to speak it very 
well. The city had no marks of civilization. It 
was situated amid isolated granite cliffs, and sur- 
rounded by vast, beautiful, palm-dotted plains of 
grass and jungle. During his stay in Abbeokuta 
the king of Dahomey appeared before the city 
with ten thousand men and six thousand women. 
The Egbas marched out fifteen thousand strong. 
Mr. Bowen brought his military experience into 
play, and standing on the wall, gave some di- 
rection to affairs. The enemy was routed, with 
two thousand slain and several hundred prison- 
ers. Mr. Bowen was very anxious to visit Iketu, 
but the king refused him permission, and when 
he sent for him some months later, Mr. Bowen 
found the chiefs very much opposed to his com- 
ing. The king's house was fired, and an attempt 
was made to poison Mr. Bowen. The king re- 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA 1 57 

quested him to keep in doors, but Mr. Bowen was 
soon preaching to the people, saying, when the 
king objected to it, "You must not forbid me to 
dehver the message of the King of kings, who 
sent me to Iketu." Matters became so serious 
that, with the advice of the king, Mr. Bowen re- 
turned to Abbeokuta. 

About twenty months after his arrival in Africa, 
Mr. Bowen received his first letters from home. 
The Board did not deem it expedient for him to 
settle down to mission work without co-laborers, 
and authorized him to return home, recruit his ex- 
hausted energies, spread information among the 
churches, and procure suitable men to embark 
with him in the enterprise. When the suggestion 
of the Board reached him he had already deter- 
mined on this course, and after a long and tedious 
voyage arrived in New York in February, 1853. 
Cheering news awaited him as he returned weary 
and worn from the land of darkness. Special in- 
terest in African missions had been awakened in 
the minds of several ministers in the South, re- 
sulting in the offer of themselves for this service. 
The decision on the part of these brethren was 
simultaneous and without consultation. In the 
spring of 1853, Rev, J. S. Dennard, of Georgia, 
and Rev. John H. Lacy, of Virginia, were ap- 
pointed to Africa. Shortly after his return to 
America, Mr. Bowen married Miss Davis, of 



158 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Greensboro, Ga., and in company with Messrs. 
Dennard and Lacy and their wives, sailed again 
for Africa, July 5, 1853. 

The missionaries arrived in Lagos in August, 
and proceeded to Abbeokuta. Distress and sorrow 
soon overtook the devoted band. Mr. and Mrs. 
Dennard returned to Lagos, where Mrs. Dennard 
died with African fever early in 1854. Her hus- 
band survived her but six months, and Mr. Lacy 
was compelled to return home in less than a year. 
Mr. and Mrs. Bowen proceeded to Ijaye, where 
Mr. Bowen built a mud house and a chapel and 
baptized a few converts. Mr. W. H. Clark, 
another young Georgian, joined them in Decem- 
ber, 1854, and, like Mr. Bowen, was soon engaged 
in building, preaching, and traveling. Mr. Bowen 
said that every corner of Ijaye heard the gospel, 
often with such rapt attention that a stranger 
would have thought the whole town was on the 
point of turning to the Lord. Others opposed 
with equal ardor. A large mission house was 
built, designed in part to accommodate new mis- 
sionaries until they should pass through the ac- 
climation fever. A Sunday-school was opened, 
and though at first there were few attendants, the 
number soon increased, until there was neither 
room, nor books, nor teachers sufficient for those 
eager to learn. 

In the autumn of 1855, Mr. and Mrs. Bowen 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA 1 59 

removed to Ogbomoshaw and opened another sta- 
tion. Mrs. Bowen had to cross the Obba River 
by means of a huge calabash, she at one end and 
the ferryman at the other, this being the mode of 
ferrying. Having rented a house and made all 
arrangements for Mrs. Bowen's comfort, Mr. 
Bowen started for the Mohammedan city of Ilorin, 
hoping to be able to settle there. He had been 
treated very cordially on a former visit but the 
sentiment had changed or else he had been de- 
ceived, and so permission to live in Ilorin was 
denied him. On his return to Ogbomoshaw the 
king gave him a beautiful building site, and in 
three months he had completed a comfortable cot- 
tage of three rooms with outbuildings, all sur- 
rounded by a wall five feet high. 

The mission was reinforced by the arrival of 
Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Phillips and Mr. J. F. Beau- 
mont late in the year 1855. Mr. and Mrs. Phil- 
lips located in Ijaye, where Mrs. Phillips fell a 
victim to African fever soon after their arrival. 
Mr. Beaumont joined Mr. Bowen at Ogbomoshaw; 
he was not a minister, but was a fine scholar and 
was sent out to assist in the preparation of books 
and otherwise aid in the spiritual instruction of the 
people. Under the impression that his health was 
seriously affected he returned at the end of a year. 
In the winter of 1855, Joseph M. Harden (colored), 
who had labored for several years in Liberia, was 



l60 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

transferred to the Yoruban Mission and located at 
Lagos. He secured the erection of a chapel by 
his own liberal contributions and without expense 
to the Board. He also rendered efficient serv- 
ice in superintending the passage of mission- 
aries and the transmission of supplies from the 
coast to the interior. The mission sustained a 
severe loss in 1856 by the return of Mr. and Mrs. 
Bowen and his enforced retirement from the work 
because of enfeebled health. The two lonely mis- 
sionaries, Mr. Phillips and Mr. Harden, rejoiced 
over the arrival of much-needed reinforcements 
early in January, 1857. These consisted of Mr. and 
Mrs. S. Y. Trimble, of Kentucky ; Mr. and Mrs. J. 
H. Cason, of Tennessee ; and Mr. and Mrs. R. W. 
Priest, of Mississippi. Before they were perma- 
nently located in their fields Mrs. Cason's health 
became so impaired that her return to America 
was necessary. Within two years all three fam- 
ilies had been forced by failing health to abandon 
the field. 

While at Monrovia on the return voyage, Mr, 
and Mrs. Cason met Mr. and Mrs. T. A. Reid on 
their way to Africa. Mr. Reid was a Georgian 
and was adopted by the Rehoboth Association of 
that State as its missionary, to fill the place left 
vacant by the death of Mr. Dennard. They located 
in Ogbomoshaw and Mrs. Reid entered into her 
work with earnest devotion, and by her exalted 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA l6l 

piety and intelligent interest won the love of her 
associates. Only a few months of effort were per- 
mitted her, as in May, 1858, she was attacked with 
fever and passed to her reward. There are few 
sadder incidents in missionary annals. Far from 
friends and kindred the lonely missionary cared for 
his dying wife, laid her to rest with his own hands, 
and watched over her grave to prevent its desecra- 
tion. Soon after her death Mr. Reid removed to 
Awyaw, where for two years, owing to tribal wars, 
he was cut off from all intercourse with his fellow- 
missionaries and suffered from insufficient food 
and lack of medical attention. He was cheered by 
the baptism of one convert and thought he saw 
signs of progress and inquiry. He was not per- 
mitted to follow up these hopeful indications, for 
the privations endured in Awyaw so seriously im- 
paired his health that a change of climate became 
necessary. He left Awyaw in the spring of 1864, 
journeyed to Abbeokuta in peril of his life from 
the contending armies, and sailed from Lagos for 
home. 

Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Stone, of Virginia, sailed 
for Africa in the autumn of 1858, and located in 
Ijaye. The town was surrounded by a dense forest 
which the governor would not allow to be dis- 
turbed. It therefore formed the lair of wild beasts 
that prowled and howled around the street all 
night. The character of the people and the gov- 



1 62 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

ernment of the city, however, were better than 
those of most cities. In the beginning of his sec- 
ond year in Ijaye, Mr. Stone was captured by the 
Ibadans, taken to their town, and tried for his life 
on the charge of being a spy. His capture and 
the circumstances attending it, revealed to him the 
fact that formidable preparations were being made 
for the destruction of Ijaye. The whole kingdom 
was combined against it because the governor 
would not acknowledge the authority of a new 
king just come to the throne. He escaped from 
his captors and on the long and weary journey 
back to Ijaye rested at Ogbomoshaw, where the 
mission premises were in good order, being pro- 
tected by the chief in the hope that Mr. Clark 
would some day return. He arrived in Ijaye in 
time to see a large army approach and attack it. 
There was a pitched battle every five days. The 
Abbeokutans came to the relief of the Ijayans, but 
this only prolonged the war. The town was taken 
and completely destroyed. Hundreds died from 
starvation around the missionaries' home. Mission 
work was almost suspended, but the missionaries 
visited among the wounded and dying and thus 
gained the confidence and respect of the natives. 
Some of the convalescents listened with gladness ; 
some who had been almost inveterate enemies, 
were led to exclaim with tears : " We never be- 
lieved the white man loved us so and was really 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA 1 63 

our friend." When all was lost at Ijaye Mr. Stone 
removed to Abbeokuta. All the converts except 
two had preceded him, a church of thirty converts 
was established, and a flourishing school of seventy 
children. The mission was greatly blessed and 
more were baptized within two years than during 
its whole previous history. 

Serious trouble befell the mission in 1867, ne- 
cessitating its temporary removal to Lagos. An 
excited mob, unrestrained by the authorities, sur- 
rounded the mission premises, robbed them of all 
they contained, and almost destroyed the building. 
Returning from America, Mr. Stone joined Mr. 
Phillips at Lagos, and they lost no time in gather- 
ing the converts from Abbeokuta and other interior 
cities to instruct and train them. The children 
were gathered into schools, a chapel was built, and 
some work was done among the heathen popula- 
tion. After twelve years of faithful service Mr. 
Phillips was obliged to return to America in order 
to prolong his life. Journeying homeward through 
England and Scotland he awakened so much in- 
terest and sympathy and received such generous 
contributions that the debt of the Yoruban Mis- 
sion, contracted during the war, was canceled. 
After a year of lonely work, Mr. Stone was pros- 
trated with brain fever and was forced to leave 
Africa in 1869. Thus the field lost the last white 
missionary. For several years the Board deemed 



164 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

it impracticable to re-enter the Yoruba country 
because of the continued hostility of the king and 
head men of the interior, but had no intention of 
a final abandonment of the field. 

The Foreign Mission Board appealed to the 
Convention of 1874 for an appropriation of about 
$5,000 for African missions. Rev. W. J. David, 
of Mississippi, had offered himself as a missionary 
to Africa, and the Board favored his appointment. 
W. W. Colley, a Negro from the Richmond Insti- 
tute, was also favorably considered. In January, 
1875, these two brethren sailed for Africa with 
instructions if they saw no prospect of entering 
the Yoruba country, to make another attempt in 
the Beir country, from which the missionaries had 
been driven in 1872. On their arrival in Sierra 
Leone they rejoiced to learn that Yoruba was 
again open and that two missionaries of the Eng- 
lish Church had gone to Abbeokuta by invitation 
of the king. The people said that the white man's 
God had killed all of their princes who were con- 
cerned in driving away the missionaries. After a 
short stay in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, the 
missionaries sailed for Lagos. Here they were 
visited by about forty-five church-members, who 
were greatly rejoiced over their arrival and held a 
meeting to thank God for hearing and answering 
their prayer. Mr. David journeyed to Abbeokuta, 
where he was cordially received by the king and 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA 1 65 

his advisers. He found sixteen members of the 
church and heard directly from Ogbomoshaw that 
about eighteen members there remained faithful. 
These men often traveled to Lagos, a journey of 
twelve days, to inquire if " God's men had come." 
Though urged to make his home in Abbeokuta, 
Mr. David deemed it best to return to Lagos. On 
January i, 1876, he organized a church of twenty- 
four members, and the day following baptized 
twenty converts. 

Mr. David appealed for another man, that the 
three stations of Lagos, Abbeokuta, and Ogbomo- 
shaw might each be occupied, but while waiting 
for a response, sent his interpreter, Moses L. 
Stone, to Ogbomoshaw. This young man was one 
of the children given to the missionaries and 
brought from Abbeokuta when they were com- 
pelled to abandon that station. He had been 
trained in the home of Mr. Stone and had been 
baptized by him. After Mr. Stone's return, his 
piety and intelligence caused him to be recognized 
as a teacher and adviser among his fellow-converts. 
The church at Lagos continued to receive addi- 
tions and in eight months the membership was 
doubled. A brick meeting-house was erected 
which would accommodate between three and four 
hundred. In the summer of 1876, Mr. David 
made a trip into the interior. He received a kind 
welcome at Abbeokuta and secured a site for a 



1 66 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

chapel. He found that only four or five of the 
old members remained faithful and could be de- 
pended upon. At Awyaw, where the old mission 
buildings lay in ruins, the king gave him a grand 
reception and offered to aid in the erection of 
houses if a mission conld be established. When 
he reached Ogbomoshaw, the people cried, "God 
be praised ; he has heard our prayers, which have 
continued these many years." A few of those 
who had heard the gospel from the missionaries had 
met together and read the Bible from the time the 
missionaries left until the coming of Mr. David, a 
period of about eighteen years. During his stay 
of two months, Mr. David gathered a congregation 
of a hundred and twenty-five, to whom he preached 
under the trees planted by former missionaries. 
A chapel was built in which the doors, windows, 
and benches of the old mission house were used. 
Many articles left by the missionaries had been 
carefully preserved. 

On his return to Abbeokuta, Mr. David found 
the chapel finished and dedicated to God in a 
prayer meeting held by two old women, who were 
the first converts received by the missionaries. 
He was not permitted to prosecute his work be- 
cause of failing health, and in order to save his 
life he was recalled to America. Soon after his 
arrival in this country, Mr. David married Miss 
Nannie W. Bland, of Virginia, and after a year 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA \6j 

at home they sailed for Africa, in 1879, ^^^ were 
welcomed in Lagos with great exultation. Moses 
Stone reported a prosperous school of twenty at 
Ogbomoshaw, many souls inquiring the way of 
life, and twenty converts awaiting baptism. He 
was ordained to the ministry while at Lagos and 
returned to his work at Ogbomoshaw. The inte- 
rior stations were much disturbed by wars, and at 
one time he was cut off for a year from all com- 
munication with Lagos. At the end of that time 
he made the journey and reported that, though 
locked in by the enemy, he had continued at work 
and had baptized five converts. Mr. David built 
a mission house, that is described as one of the 
most comfortable and convenient mission houses 
in Lagos, and he ascribed the large increase in the 
number of scholars during the year to the fact that 
the Baptist mission was regarded as firmly estab- 
lished. The spring of 1881 found Mr. David en- 
tirely alone on the field, his fellow-worker. Rev. S. 
Cosby, who had been sent out jointly by the Col- 
ored Baptist Convention of Virginia and the South- 
ern Baptist Convention, being recalled to work in 
connection with the Negro Board of Missions. 
Before he could effect any change, however, he 
was stricken with fever and called to his reward. 
His piety and humility had greatly endeared him 
to his co-workers. 

The earnest appeals for more white missionaries 



1 68 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

that Mr. David had been making from the time of 
his return were answered, in 1882, by the arrival 
of Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Eubank, who took up their 
residence in Abbeokuta. Five stations were thus 
occupied: Lagos, by Mr. David; Abbeokuta, by 
Mr. Eubank ; Ogbomoshaw, by M. L. Stone ; 
Hausser Farm and Gaun, both in charge of native 
assistants. The Hausser Farm station was main- 
tained by the Lagos church. The church at 
Lagos about this time witnessed a great revival, 
about a hundred persons being brought to Christ 
and twenty-five confessing him in baptism. The 
schoolhouse, for which Mr. David had long pleaded, 
was erected. It compared favorably with the other 
well-built schoolhouses of this English-African city. 
The teaching was elementary, but it was hoped 
that it might ultimately be elevated and adapted 
to the training of native preachers. 

In the winter of 1884 the mission was reinforced 
by the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Harvey, Mr. 
S, M. Cook, and Mr. C. E. Smith. After spending 
a few months in Lagos, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey and 
Mr. Cook located in Abbeokuta, thus leaving Mr. 
Eubank free to remove to Lagos and superintend 
the work there during the absence of Mr. David. 
Mr. and Mrs. David returned to Africa in the 
spring of 1885, bringing with them the material 
for a new chapel, which was to cost about ;^ 5,000. 
Shortly after her return to Africa, Mrs. David was 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA 1 69 

attacked by the malignant fever of the country, 
and while on the way to Madeira, seeking restora- 
tion, she fell asleep. Her bright, consecrated life 
was a perpetual inspiration to her associates, and 
her last words came with solemn earnestness alike 
to them and to the home land, "Never give up 
Africa." 

The mission was further depleted in 1886 by 
the resignation of Mr. Cook and the return of Mr. 
and Mrs. Harvey on account of failing health. 
Mr. and Mrs. Harvey hoped to resume work after 
a period of rest, but never recovered sufficiently 
to deem it advisable. Meanwhile, Mr. David, 
having married again, returned to Africa, accom- 
panied by Miss Cynthia Morris, who, a few days 
after her arrival, was married to Mr. Smith. In 
his report to the Convention of 1887, Mr. David 
gave a retrospective view of twelve years' work in 
Africa.^ The results were not so manifest as in 
other fields, but the obstacles had been great ; 
many of these had been overcome and the work 
pressed forward. The year 1888 witnessed more 
solid growth in the mission than in any previous 
year. In Lagos the church-members were zealous 
in their efforts to bring the heathen to Christ. 

1 Four chapels and i substantial, beautiful church had been 
built; 5 schools had been established, with 284 pupils; 171 had 
been baptized, 32 of whom had died in the faith ; 4 comfortable 
homes for missionaries and 3 for evangelists had been erected. 



I/O MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Every Sabbath afternoon they met in the school- 
room for a short devotional service, then, separat- 
ing into two or three bands, went out in the streets 
to sing, pray, and preach. Each week some of the 
women took their little stock of goods home from 
market on their heads and then went out into the 
streets and markets proclaiming Christ. 

A most stirring appeal for Africa was that sent 
by Mr. Eubank to the Convention of 1889. 
Among other things, he said there was danger 
that the missionaries would become discouraged 
by the long delay in sending help to them. God 
had not chosen to bless their work as he had 
that of some missions, and brethren at home 
became disheartened because large results were 
not reported, forgetting that this fact was far more 
discouraging to the missionary. The discourage- 
ments of the missionary were innumerable : the 
need of enforcing church discipline; the falling 
away of young people in whom a peculiar interest 
had been awakened ; the failure of repeated efforts 
to implant principles of truth and virtue ; the be- 
trayal of confidence; and the failure of a son in 
the gospel. Nearly all the encouragements found 
their way home, the discouragements, for the most 
part, were locked up in the missionary's bosom. 

God had already answered the appeal made, and 
in September, 1889, Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Newton 
and Miss Alberta Newton arrived in Lagos. It 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA I /I 

was soon arranged that they should take charge 
of the work at that station. Mr. and Mrs. Lum- 
bley, who arrived at the same time, being unable 
to reach Ogbomoshaw because of tribal wars, were 
temporarily stationed at Abbeokuta. The year 
1889 witnessed some sad losses. Broken down in 
health, Mr. David returned to America with his 
family, and while Mr. and Mrs. Smith were trying 
to erect a suitable home in Ogbomoshaw, she was 
called to that ** house not made with hands." The 
perplexities and discouragements of the mission 
were greatly increased by a schism in the church 
at Lagos, the result of which was the separation 
from the mission of the majority of the Baptists 
of that city. Mr. Newton labored earnestly for a 
reconciliation and was rewarded by bringing about 
a better state of feeling. 

In January, 1891, Mr. Eubank baptized a young 
Englishman, S. G. Pinnock, who a few months 
later was ordained to the ministry and employed 
by the Board. He had come out to Africa antici- 
pating entering the Wesleyan Methodist ministry. 
While in Lagos he met Mr. Eubank, and among 
other topics they discussed Christian baptism. Mr. 
Pinnock having declared in favor of infant bap- 
tism, Mr. Eubank advised him to read carefully 
and prayerfully the New Testament and he would 
not fear the result. Mr. Pinnock followed the 
advice and it changed his convictions. With his 



1/2 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

wife, a young lady from England, he joined the 
Eubanks at Ogbomoshaw. At the urgent request 
of his fellow-missionaries, Mr. Eubank returned, 
in 1892, for needed rest. He expected soon to go 
back to Africa, but decided that his only child 
demanded his care and resigned from the service 
of the Board. Mr. Smith, having married in the 
United States, returned in 1892, thus leaving Mr. 
Pinnock free to locate at Awyaw, where Mr. Eu- 
bank had opened a station and where the mission- 
aries were desirous of placing a white missionary 
family. 

The year 1892 was characterized by great po- 
litical excitement in the Yoruba country. The 
long-existing feud between the Ibadan and the 
Ilorin people seemed to have reached a crisis. 
The Ijebu and Abbeokuta tribes blockaded Lagos 
because they said she would not make peace be- 
tween Ibadan and Ilorin. The roads were closed 
most of the year and all communication between 
the missionaries in the interior and Mr. Newton at 
Lagos was cut off, except as an occasional letter 
ran the blockade. The Lagos government, which 
is English, sent an expedition against Ijebu that 
resulted in the conquering and annexation of that 
country, and the year closed with the whole coun- 
try at peace. These tribal wars that led to kid- 
napping and obstruction of roads were constantly 
recurring hindrances to mission work. The year 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA 1/3 

was not fruitful in additions to the churches, but 
the changes which had taken place, both politically 
and in some other ways, had prepared the way for 
enlargement and greater permanency in the work 
of the future. At Lagos, despite opposition, the 
missionaries were meeting with encouraging suc- 
cess and conversions gladdened their hearts. Con- 
gregations were larger than ever before during Mr. 
Newton's stay, and the Christians stood by him 
more firmly because of the opposition of outsiders. 
At Ogbomoshaw Mr. Smith was encouraged by an 
interest which he felt was more than curiosity. 
He had endeavored to enlist the Christians in 
work among the heathen, and was cheered by their 
greater activity. There were baptisms in each one 
of the four cities where the Board had stations, the 
first year in which this had been the case.^ 

In December, 1893, the Newtons returned to 
Africa after a much-needed rest in the United 
States. The Baptist church at Lagos gave them 
a warm reception, and letters from the interior, 
welcoming them back to the field, breathed a spirit 
of hopefulness. During Mr. Newton's absence, the 
church had undertaken the support of a native 
worker at two points outside of Lagos. This ex- 

^ Of the two Baptist churches in Lagos, one had a membership 
of 100 and the other 60. At Hausser Farm there were 15 mem- 
bers, 10 at Abbeokuta, 5 at Awyaw, and 50 at Ogbomoshaw, 
making a total of 240 Baptists in the Yoruba country. 



174 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

tension of its influence was a cheering sign of 
growth. An interesting work was undertaken by 
a converted blacksmith living six or eight miles 
from Lagos. This man opened a Sunday-school 
in the villages near him, went to Mr. Newton for 
instruction in the Scriptures as often as possible, 
and, by using the knowledge gained, rapidly ac- 
quired more. He had many trials in beginning his 
work, but succeeded in gathering many into his 
Bible-school. After a time the chiefs of the vil- 
lage gave him a lot on which to erect a building. 
He began putting up the mud walls of his place of 
worship, and the people of the village, seeing his 
earnestness, helped him. Mr. Newton brought 
the matter before the Lagos church and encour- 
aged them to help him. The building was finished 
by their aid and they sent every Sunday one of 
their own members to assist him. God blessed 
their efforts, and when on his return Mr. Newton 
visited this new interest, the house was full at the 
service, and many stood at the windows listening 
to the word, while four were received for baptism. 
The work at Ogbomoshaw continued increas- 
ingly prosperous during the year 1894 ; Mr. Smith 
had succeeded, after a long struggle, in getting 
the church to build a house, the members doing 
most of the work of building the walls. The 
people were very poor, but were urged to self- 
support and contributed nearly thirty dollars dur- 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA 1 75 

ing the year. The steady aim of the missionary 
was to train them in Christian living, self-support, 
and self-control. 

In the summer of 1894 the African Mission 
sustained severe losses. Mrs. Newton died in 
Lagos, July 1 1 . She was a brave, helpful spirit, 
and had great influence over the natives, by whom 
she was much beloved. A few days after her 
death Mr. Newton was taken ill and died at sea, 
July 26. He was a faithful, wise, and aggressive 
missionary, and the work at Lagos was prospering 
in his hands. In the spring of 1895 Miss Al- 
berta Newton severed her connection with the 
mission by her marriage with an English Wesleyan 
missionary. She had been actively engaged in 
school work and was a much-esteemed member of 
the mission. Loss succeeded loss. In April, 
1895, Mrs. Lumbley was called home. Only 
three missionaries were left on the field — Mr. and 
Mrs. Pinnock and Mr. Lumbley. Mr. Pinnock 
found his hands more than full visiting the sta- 
tions, preaching to large crowds in the streets and 
markets, to little groups gathered in their homes, 
and attending to the demands of his medical 
work. The patients attended a little prayer serv- 
ice prior to receiving medical attention, and while 
Mr. Pinnock knew of no case where spiritual good 
had been wrought, it made the people willing to 
listen and he believed in final results. 



1/6 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

In the summer of 1896 Mr. and Mrs. Smith re- 
turned to Africa, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. W. 
P. Winn, the latter being a sister of Mrs. Smith. 
Mr. and Mrs. Winn went out to serve under the 
Board, but were supported by the Smiths. They 
located at Ogbomoshaw and entered into the work 
with great enthusiasm. Street preaching, visiting, 
and teaching occupied the time not employed in 
the study of the language. Mrs. Winn, having 
been a primary class teacher at home, entered 
heartily into Sunday-school work and gathered a 
class of thirty-five or forty children from three to 
seven years of age. Mr. Winn made habitable a 
building that Mr. Lumbley had commenced, and 
organized a church of twenty members. The old 
church, under Mr. Smith's care, numbered more 
than a hundred members. At nine on Sunday 
morning Sunday-school was held, beginning with 
an attendance of about thirty and closing with al- 
most the whole church-membership and their fami- 
lies. It was a live school, with an attendance of 
about a hundred, eighty of whom were Christians. 
The school was under native control, except that 
Mr. Smith examined it at the close. There were 
eight classes and eight teachers, not counting the 
missionaries. 

The year 1897 was one of severe trial to the 
missionaries. Mr. and Mrs. Winn, while every- 
thing pointed to a career of great usefulness for 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA \JJ 

them, were compelled, by Mr. Winn's failing 
health, to leave the field and set out on their jour- 
ney to America. Mrs. Winn was not permitted 
again to see the home land ; she was taken sud- 
denly ill off the African coast and passed to her 
reward, August 29, 1897. In many respects the 
year was one of discouragement at Ogbomoshaw. 
There was less increase in numbers and, as Mr. 
Smith said, the devil seemed to hold the people with 
the cords of love of polygamy, fear of persecution, 
fear of their idols, customs of their fathers, and 
love of feasting and show. Mr. Smith missed 
the assistance which Mr. and Mrs. Winn had been 
accustomed to give in the day school. The great 
need was good teachers to make the school of in- 
creasing usefulness. 

At Lagos the outlook was much more encour- 
aging. Rev. M. L. Stone baptized thirty-three, 
about half of whom came from the heathen and 
the remainder seeking scriptural baptism came 
from other denominations. The prayer meeting 
and the Sunday-school were well attended. The 
native church at Lagos also made encouraging 
progress. Though independent, this church 
worked in harmony with the Foreign Mission 
Board. L. O. Fadipe, a native worker at Abbeo- 
kuta, was ordained at Lagos, all the Baptist 
churches in Yoruba being represented at the 
services. To encourage this brother in his diffi- 

M 



178 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

cult work, the native church presented him with 
a purse from the men, a New Testament in his 
own language from the women, and a Bible picture 
roll from the young people, suitable for outdoor 
preaching. At the close of the year 1897, the 
native force consisted of twelve persons, eight of 
whom were paid wholly or in part by the mission. 
There were frequent baptisms and the church- 
membership numbered two hundred and eighty- 
four. 

In January, 1 899, a valuable worker was added 
to the Yoruba Mission by the marriage of Mr. 
Lumbley to Miss Carrie Green, of London, Eng- 
land. Miss Green was a cousin of Mr. Pinnock 
and had offered herself to the Board in 1894, 
but owing to its financial embarrassment at that 
time she was not accepted. In the summer of 
1899 the mission was further reinforced by the 
arrival of Rev. J. C. Dawes, a colored man and 
formerly a worker in Jamaica. He entered into 
the work with great vigor, and during Mr. Smith's 
absence in America took his place at Ogbomo- 
shaw. In addition to trying to build what he 
termed a hut for himself, superintending the 
school, and carrying the schoolhouse on to com- 
pletion, he found time to enter into the care of 
the churches, to discipline delinquent members, 
and to baptize converts. The schoolhouse was a 
light, airy, fireproof building, which evoked the 



THE MISSION IN YORUBA 1 79 

approval of the governor of Lagos. A tried and 
faithful worker from the Lagos school was se- 
cured as teacher. The most encouraging feature 
of the work at Ogbomoshaw was the advance 
made toward self-support. 

In January, 1899, the workers' institute was held 
in Ogbomoshaw. It was an interesting, almost 
an enthusiastic meeting. In order to throw some 
responsibility on the native brethren and give 
them an insight into such management, the meet- 
ings were conducted according to parliamentary 
form. A programme of subjects had been made 
out and speakers asked to prepare themselves, 
most of whom spoke creditably. The meeting 
was a distinct advance on that of the year pre- 
vious. Two weeks spent together was a help so- 
cially and spiritually to the native brethren as well 
as to the missionaries. On the afternoon of the 
last day the missionaries gave the native brethren 
a tea ; speeches were made, resolutions offered, 
and at the close of a social hour the company 
sang, " Blest be the tie that binds," and after a 
general handshake, parted. 

In June, 1901, Rev. L. M. Duval, of St. John, 
New Brunswick, was appointed a missionary to 
Africa. By virtue of ability, training, and ex- 
perience his appointment promises a valuable addi- 
tion to the African missionary force. 

More than fifty years have passed since self- 



l80 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

sacrificing missionaries, not counting their lives 
dear unto themselves, determined to give the gos- 
pel to the people of Yoruba. War, pestilence, 
and death have done their utmost to render the 
effort of no avail, but amid perplexity, discourage- 
ment, and sorrow, brave men and women have 
struggled on, knowing that God's promises are sure 
and that he has said by the mouth of his prophet 
Isaiah : *' In that time shall the present be brought 
unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and 
peeled, and from a people terrible from their be- 
ginning hitherto ; a nation meted out and trodden 
under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to 
the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the 
mount Zion." One of the saddest features of this 
history is the seemingly premature sacrifice of 
American life. There were appointment, enthusi- 
asm, arrival, and beginning, and then in a brief 
while the terrible fever and death. Wife, hus- 
band, one or both, falls a victim and the other re- 
turns home broken-hearted, or labors on alone, in 
a short time to meet the same fate. Ethiopia 
may and does stretch out her hands pleading for 
help, but in the main a permanent response thereto 
must come from her own converted sons and 
daughters. Few deductions of history are plainer 
than this from that of African missions. 



IX 

THE ITALIAN MISSION 

AS early as 1850 the attention of the Foreign 
Mission Board had been directed toward 
Europe as a mission field and some investigations 
as to the best opening for mission work had been 
made, but owing to lack of funds nothing definite 
was decided upon. The Convention of 1870, gave 
definiteness to the deliberations" of the Board by 
recommending the appointment of missionaries to 
several European countries as soon as the neces- 
sary funds were placed at its disposal. 

In June, of the same year, William N. Cote, 
M. D., secretary of the Young Men's Christian 
Association of France and a worker in the Latin 
quarter of Paris, was present with the Board, whose 
attention had been called to him as a suitable mis- 
sionary. A few days later the Board decided to 
establish a mission in Southern Europe at once, 
to be located at Marseilles, Milan, Chambourg, or 
some point found advisable after investigation. 
Doctor Cote was accepted as a missionary of the 
Board with authority to appoint two or more pious 
young Baptists to labor under his direction as col- 

181 



1 82 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

porters and missionaries. These young men were 
to be trained by him for the full ministry of the 
gospel, and in order to start the work ^3,000 was 
appropriated. Soon after his appointment Doctor 
Cote sailed for Europe. He found many openings 
for evangelistic effort ; but before he decided upon 
a location the army of Victor Immanuel entered 
Rome and the gates of the Eternal City were 
thrown open to the gospel. 

Doctor Cote went at once to Rome and was the 
first Protestant missionary to enter the city after 
this event. He wrote at once to the Board urging 
the immediate occupancy of Rome and the rapid 
enlargement of the work. Other denominations 
had already entered Italy and it was felt that Bap- 
tist principles, being most directly opposed to 
Romanism, would find a ready access to many a 
heart. Doctor Cote proceeded quietly with his 
work, religious meetings were held, but not very 
publicly, lest such opposition might be excited as 
would prove troublesome to the Italian government 
at that stage of negotiation with the pope. The 
attendance at these meetings steadily increased, 
many coming in response to invitations extended 
by the missionary as he called upon them in their 
shops. Some were found who, being Baptist in 
sentiment, were ready to unite with him in his 
work. Generous donations of tracts and portions 
of the Scriptures were received from the American 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 1 83 

Tract Society, the American Baptist Publication 
Society, and the Bible Stand of the Crystal Palace, 
London. More than twenty-five thousand copies 
of portions of the word of God were distributed 
and gladly received. This distribution of the 
Scriptures was not interfered with by the police, 
but rather approved. A city guard, to whom a 
colporter gave a book, said to him : '' Go on with 
your work, Rome has need of these books." 

The first-fruits of this mission were gathered' 
when, on January 30, 1871, a church was consti- 
tuted. Eight of the members were baptized just 
before the church was constituted and were re- 
garded as giving good evidence of conversion. 
Dr. John A. Broadus and Dr. Warren Randolph, 
who had been sojourning in Italy and had become 
deeply impressed with the encouraging outlook, 
were present at the organization of the church and 
assured it of the sympathy and prayers of baptized 
believers in America. The work was pushed with 
vigor by Doctor Cote and the three Italian brethren 
who assisted him. Twelve baptisms and a total 
membership of eighteen were reported to the Con- 
vention of 1 87 1. New interests sprang up in a 
number of cities and towns which called urgently 
for evangelists. A thousand copies of the Gospel 
of John and the Epistle of Paul to the Romans 
were distributed at Civita Vecchia, a meeting was 
formed in a cafe for reading the Scriptures, and 



184 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

soon a church of twenty-two members was consti- 
tuted. A common laborer at Viterbo, inspired by 
the Spirit, began to read to the people the Bible, 
which was scattered throughout the city, and 
prominent citizens sent a request for an evangelist. 
At Bari, a city of eighty thousand people, a church 
of seventy-five members was born in a day. 

The Waldensian valleys, in the north of Italy, con- 
tained a population of twenty-five thousand. Here 
thirty-four persons had been baptized and a little 
church constituted at La Tour. The evangelist, 
Ferraris, was a mechanic and supported himself 
by his trade. A welcome addition to the mission 
was received in 1872 in Giovanni B. Gioja, a man 
of talents and accomplishments. He was bap- 
tized in the river Tiber under the shadow of the 
Vatican. Writing of this impressive occasion. Dr. 
H. H, Tucker called attention to the fact that this 
was the first time for many centuries that the 
Tiber had been stirred as the Jordan was stirred 
by John the Baptist. Signor Gioja was ordained 
to the ministry by a presbytery composed of Doc- 
tor Cote, Dr. M. T. Yates, of Shanghai, Dr. George 
W. Anderson, of the American Baptist Publication 
Society, and Dr. H. H. Tucker. He became pas- 
tor of the church in the Trastevere quarter of 
Rome, a section noted for its ignorance and super- 
stition, but where crowded services bore testimony 
to the influence of the preached word. 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 1 85 

It soon became apparent that in order to estab- 
lish a permanent work in Rome a building owned 
and controlled by Baptists must be procured. 
Doctor Cote had secured a rented hall on the 
Piazza Navona, a large square in the center of 
Rome. The services were largely attended and 
their success alarmed the priests, who instigated 
the proprietors to prosecute the tenant who sublet 
the hall, and succeeded in obtaining an injunction. 
While the authorities were taking possession of 
the building the piazza was full of people who 
loudly expressed their indignation and disapproba- 
tion of the injustice. The urgent need of the mis- 
sion in Rome, it was evident, was a proper house of 
worship. The Board authorized the correspond- 
ing secretary to adopt some measures looking 
toward this end, and at the same meeting a letter 
was read stating the determination of Mrs. Gillette, 
of New York, and Mrs. Patton, of Philadelphia, to 
procure funds for the erection of a suitable build- 
ing for the recently constituted Baptist church in 
Rome. The Board made grateful acknowledg- 
ment of this kind offer and signified its willingness 
to co-operate with them in any way desired. It 
was deemed advisable that one-half the amount 
needed for the chapel should be raised in the 
South. Doctor Cote was present at the Conven- 
tion of 1872, and delivered an address in the in- 
terest of the mission at Rome. In response to 



1 86 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

an appeal from Doctor Tupper, secretary of the 
Board, pledges amounting to more than ^20,000 
were received for the chapel. On May 20, 1872, 
Rev. Geo. C. Lorimer, of Boston, was appointed a 
missionary to Italy, with authority to raise means 
to erect a church in Rome and to superintend its 
construction. Doctor Lorimer declined the super- 
intendency of the Italian mission, but accepted the 
appointment to raise funds for the chapel and gra- 
tuitously rendered valuable service. 

Troubles arose in the church at Rome, and the 
urgent need of an American missionary of piety, 
discretion, ability, and business qualifications was 
apparent. In this emergency the services of Dr. 
J. B. Jeter were secured as special commissioner. 
These troubles, of a grave and perplexing nature, 
resulted in the dismissal of Signer Gioja and the 
severing of Doctor Cote's connection with the 
Board, though from no charge affecting his moral 
character or his capacity as a missionary. After a 
survey of the field Doctor Jeter reported the pros- 
pect very encouraging. The provincial churches 
were in a prosperous condition and he was favora- 
bly impressed with the provincial evangelists. 

The Board feeling it imperative to have a per- 
manent superintendent of missions in Italy, began 
to look about for a man to fill this responsible pos- 
ition. They settled upon Dr. George B. Taylor, 
then pastor at Staunton, Va., who having signi- 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 1 87 

fied his willingness to go, was, on March 3, 1873, 
unanimously appointed missionary to Italy. It 
was no easy task to quiet troubles in Rome, train 
native preachers, organize undisciplined churches, 
foster the work already begun, and press forward 
into new fields of usefulness. Doctor Taylor 
seemed peculiarly adapted for this work, and almost 
thirty years of faithful, untiring, and successful 
effort, have justified the exalted opinion the Board 
then formed of him. 

Soon after the arrival of Doctor Taylor the mis- 
sion rejoiced in the accession of Professor Cocorda,of 
Milan, a man of thorough classical and theological 
training, a pupil of Gaussen and D'Aubigne, and 
an experienced teacher. He had labored success- 
fully with the Waldenses and with the Free Church, 
but having adopted Baptist views, offered his services 
to the Foreign Mission Board. Milan was the cen- 
ter of Italian learning and culture and an impor- 
tant point to be occupied. Doctor Taylor visited it 
and addressed the little band of Christians who had 
been studying the subject of baptism, setting before 
them the nature and basis of the peculiar views of 
Baptists. It was found that they agreed with him 
in conviction and a regular Baptist church was 
soon organized. 

During his first year of service in Italy Doctor 
Taylor made several tours among the provincial 
churches where he found much to encourage him. 



1 88 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

At La Tour the church-members were scattered 
for miles around, but about thirty gathered in the 
evangelist's dwelling, where a service exquisite in 
its simplicity was held. Each person had a Bible and 
a hymn book and almost every brother took part, 
either praying, reading, or speaking. The church 
was bound together by mutual affection. It had 
many difficulties and enemies. Unbelievers, Rom- 
anists, Waldensians, and even Mormons opposed 
it. At Bologna Doctor Taylor met the evangelists 
who, with a view of forming each other's acquaint- 
ance and conferring with him, convened there. 
The influence of this meeting was full of signifi- 
cance, being the first of the kind ever held by the 
Italian brethren. A valuable acquisition to the 
Italian Mission was Enrico Paschetto, a young 
minister of good education just finishing his course 
at Geneva. When Professor Cocorda took charge 
of the church in Rome in October, 1874, Signer 
Paschetto succeeded him at Milan. 

The caution and moderation of Doctor Taylor's 
report to the Convention of 1875, precluded the 
possibility of an overestimate of the present success 
or future prospects of the mission. Much injury 
had been done by the glowing accounts sent by the 
early missionaries. When the Italian army entered 
Rome and the dream of Italian liberty and unity 
had become a reality, enthusiastic Christian work- 
ers rushed in, zealous to preach the word in Rome. 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 1 89 

They were gladly received by the people, eager to 
taste of freedom and eat of its forbidden fruit. 
Many persons in order to show their freedom 
turned from Romanism to Protestantism, not be- 
cause they were in heart Protestants, but simply 
to be anti-Romanists. These enthusiastic workers 
were deceived by what they witnessed and guided 
by hope and desire rather than by judgment, mis- 
took the enjoyment of freedom for religious fervor. 
It was a natural mistake, but none the less lament- 
able. When troubles arose it became evident that 
much of the work had been useless and that an 
almost new and different one must be begun. 
Many brethren at home who had been led to expect 
great results, were so grievously disappointed that 
it was long before they could realize that a new 
and vigorous work was being done on more stable 
foundations. 

Having the opportunity to rent one of the most 
eligible halls in the city of Rome, Doctor Taylor 
secured it for two years. It was centrally located in 
the square where the Italians gathered in great num- 
bers on the Sabbath. Three services were held on 
the Lord's Day and two during the week. The morn- 
ing meeting on Sunday was in the nature of a Sun- 
day-school and prayer meeting combined. Doctor 
Taylor and Professor Cocorda each taught a Bible 
class of ten or fifteen persons in Italian and French 
respectively. In the night school each had a class of 



190 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

fifty young men, — Doctor Taylor teaching in Italian 
and Professor Cocorda in French. The New Testa- 
ment was the principal text -book. The young men 
seemed to be of a very good class, some of them 
being students in the university. A new church 
was organized in Rome on May 23, 1875. Prior to 
the organization five persons were baptized in the 
baptistery constructed in the basement of the 
church. These, with six of the original members 
of the church in Rome, Professor Cocorda and his 
wife and Doctor Taylor, signed the covenant and 
constituted the new church. Trastevere, where 
the original church had been located, and which 
had been maintained as an outstation, was aban- 
doned. 

The publication of a journal, in which Baptist 
principles might be defended and explained, was 
deemed advisable and, in January, 1876, Doctor Tay- 
lor commenced the issue of a small monthly journal 
entitled // Seminatore ("The Sower"), a name 
suggestive of the work that Doctor Taylor and his 
assistants were trying to do in Italy. It contained 
articles on denominational tenets. Baptist history, 
and questions of church life and evangelization. A 
most interesting series of articles consisting of 
original investigations concerning Baptist history 
made in the archives of the Venetian Inquisition, 
was contributed by Signor Bellondi. " The Sower" 
was of unquestioned value in confirming the faith of 



THE ITALIAN MISSION I9I 

some and convincing others. There were a number 
of subscribers in Italy and among the forty thou- 
sand ItaUan speaking persons in Alexandria and 
Cairo. 

The mission at Venice was organized under 
peculiarly favorable circumstances. In the sum- 
mer of 1876 Doctor Taylor visited Venice where 
he met Signor Bellondi, who was supported as an 
independent missionary, principally to the Jews. 
His work had been conducted on a generous scale. 
He had a fine hall, a piano, and a master of music 
as his assistant. He used gospel songs composed 
by himself and set to music by his leader of sing- 
ing. Having become convinced of the scriptural- 
ness of believer's baptism, he expressed to Doctor 
Taylor the desire to labor with him and was 
accepted as an evangelist in 1876. Possessed of 
great zeal and earnestness he has proved a faithful 
servant of the Board. A church was soon consti- 
tuted of those who had been converted by his 
efforts and who shared his views concerning 
baptism. 

The Italian Mission has been fortunate in secur- 
ing pastors and evangelists of learning, piety, stead- 
fast faith, and courage to endure persecution for 
the sake of the gospel. In addition to his labors 
in the Waldensian valleys, the evangelist Ferraris 
made two journeys into France and Switzerland 
where, in spite of petty persecution, he did much 



192 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

to disseminate the truth. Forty-six were baptized 
as a result of his efforts, some of them in France 
and others in Italy. A valuable addition received 
from the Free Church was Signor Colombo, of 
Taranto. While on a visit to Bari, Doctor Taylor 
made the journey to this little city situated on a 
rock in the sea and had an interesting conversation 
with the minister who told him of the opposition 
he had encountered and also of the remarkable 
work he had accomplished in Rocca Imperiale, 
where the priest had embraced the evangelical 
cause, and had been followed by a large part of the 
population. Soon after this visit Signor Colombo 
was baptized by Evangelist Basile at Bari. He 
was sent to Naples to assist in a Baptist work 
begun by Count Oswald Papengouth, a wealthy 
and pious Russian nobleman who had been con- 
verted in London under the preaching of Baptist 
Noel. After a time Count Papengouth turned over 
half the work to the Foreign Mission Board and 
Signor Colombo was given charge of it. 

Another acquisition from the Free Church was 
welcomed in the person of Signor Volpi, pastor at 
Bari, where he and his deacon were baptized by 
Signor Basile. Signor Volpi was put in charge of 
the church, while Signor Basile removed to Bar- 
letta to open a new station. Here an interesting 
work had been begun twelve years before by 
Gianinni, but was broken up by a cruel massacre. 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 193 

Signer Basile had the names of a few survivors of 
the slaughter of 1866, given him by Gianinni, 
who welcomed him cordially. To these faithful 
ones he explained the object of his visit. They 
appreciated his interest, but feared he was com- 
ing to impose human systems or rules upon them 
and were jealous of their liberty in Christ. He 
disabused their minds of this impression, and soon 
afterward eight persons, all of whom had been 
tried in the furnace of persecution, gathered in a 
meeting, their faces radiant with joy. Many had 
neither Bible nor Testament, the priests, through 
relatives, having sequestered them. The priests 
and friars hearing of this new movement, ordered 
prayers for the undoing of the heretics. 

The purchase of a most desirable locale, or 
headquarters, in the city of Rome was concluded 
in April, 1878. By competent judges it was de- 
clared to be the best place in the whole city for 
mission premises. It is on one of the great thor- 
oughfares, two hundred yards from the Pantheon 
and one hundred yards from the University of 
Rome. The building contains rooms for the mis- 
sionary's family and a chapel, simply and neatly 
fitted up. It was dedicated in November, and 
Doctor Taylor rejoiced in the possession of a per- 
manent home for the Italian church. About ^10,- 
000 was needed to cover the cost of the house 
and the necessary improvements. Learning of 

N 



194 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

this deficit in the amount needed for the chapel, 
the American Baptist Missionary Union passed a 
resolution at the anniversaries in Cleveland, Ohio, 
in 1878, commending this project to the liberality 
of Northern Baptists and welcoming any suitable 
representative of the Southern Baptist Convention 
who should be appointed to raise money in the 
North. The Foreign Mission Board gratefully 
acknowledge this action of the Missionary Union 
and appointed Dr. William Hague as its repre- 
sentative. Some months later, Doctor Hague, 
having accepted a pastorate, Doctor Taylor was 
recalled, chiefly to collect funds for this purpose. 

There was great need of chapels at all the sta- 
tions. Doctor Harris, of Richmond, during a visit to 
Italy, wrote in regard to the places of worship 
that not one of them could properly be termed a 
chapel, or even a meeting-house, and that neat 
and simple rooms, fitted up with convenient ar- 
rangements for preaching and administering the 
ordinances, would add very much to the useful- 
ness of the missionaries. Doctor Taylor also 
made earnest appeals for chapels at the most im- 
portant stations, as the excellent chapels of the 
Pedobaptists, contrasted with the miserable rooms 
occupied by the Baptist missionaries, placed the 
latter at a serious disadvantage and gave an unfa- 
vorable impression of the zeal, liberality, and high 
purpose of those who were connected with the 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 195 

work. Modest halls of churchlike style and, 
where possible, with rooms for a family, were de- 
manded to meet the need. 

June lo and ii, 1882, the church just com- 
pleted in the new and promising station of Torre 
Pellice, was set apart for the worship of God. The 
services were impressive and the chapel was 
opened free from debt. Signor Cocorda, who had 
charge of the work at this time, said the influence 
of the chapel had increased in some the hatred 
against Baptists, in others the conviction that con- 
science is free, and in yet others the desire to in- 
form themselves as to Baptist principles. 

The first great need of the mission being thus 
partially supplied by the chapels at Rome and 
Torre Pellice, a second ne.ed was also soon to be 
met. Doctor Taylor had been very anxious to 
have a young missionary to assist him, so that if 
he should be laid aside for any cause, there would 
be some one to take charge of affairs. In N-o- 
vember, 1880, his desire was fulfilled by the ar- 
rival in Rome of Rev. and Mrs. John H. Eager. 
Mr. Eager' s missionary convictions were almost 
simultaneous with his determination to be a min- 
ister and took such firm hold of his life that for 
years scarcely a day passed when it was out of his 
thought or purpose. He was accepted by the 
Board as a missionary to China, but, with his own 
free consent, was transferred to Italy in response 



196 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

to the urgent appeals that came from that mission. 
Mr. Eager located in Rome, where, while learning 
the language, he could assist Doctor Taylor and 
become familiar with the policy of the mission. 

The year 1883-84 brought to the Italian Mis- 
sion its full share of trials ; among these was the 
defection from orthodoxy of Signer Cocorda and 
his consequent separation from the work. A se- 
vere loss was sustained in the death of Mrs. Tay- 
lor, which occurred in March, 1884. She was be- 
loved by all who came under the influence of her 
Christian spirit, and friends of many nations and 
creeds and of no creed vied with each other in 
kindness and demonstrations of affection. The 
eleven years of her life in Italy were full of care 
and sacrifice, and only eternity will reveal what 
the mission owes to her unselfish devotion to its 
interests. In the midst of trial and distress there 
were some encouragements for the saddened mis- 
sionary. He had the pleasure of welcoming 
among his corps of fellow-workers Signor Nicolas 
Papengouth, son of the missionary Count Papen- 
gouth, of Naples, a young man of culture and de- 
votion, and highly commended as a missionary by 
Mr. Spurgeon. Doctor Taylor was also greatly 
cheered by the sanctifying power of the Spirit 
manifested among the brethren in Rome, leading 
them to give up Sunday labor, renounce work 
which might injure their Christian standing, and 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 1 97 

engage in practical love for the sick, the widow, 
the orphan, and the cause of Christ. 

The Apostolic Baptist Union was consummated 
in April, 1884. The pastors and evangelists of 
nearly all the Baptist churches in Italy, as well as 
the representatives of three Boards, met in coun- 
cil and initiated plans for promoting Baptist prin- 
ciples. Among these plans was the establishment 
of a paper, '*// Testimonio,'' wherein Baptist 
principles might be taught and defended. This 
paper is said to have proved a fearless, faithful, 
and loving witness to the truth, and to have won 
the respect even of opponents. At this time 
Baptists had to endure bitter denunciation and 
calumny, not only from Romanists, but from Pedo- 
baptists as well. Those who refused to relinquish 
their peculiar views in order to form an Italian 
church were denounced as narrow and sectarian, 
and of necessity the Baptists fell under this de- 
nunciation. 

The health of Doctor Taylor having become 
seriously impaired, he was granted leave of ab- 
sence for two years. Doctor Eager took charge 
of the work, the outlook for which was encourag- 
ing. There was a growing desire toward self- 
support among the churches, weekly collections 
were taken, and though the amounts contributed 
were small, it was a beginning toward inde- 
pendence. Four colporters, supported by the 



198 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

churches, distributed thousands of tracts and 
preached publicly and privately to hundreds of 
persons. Signor Arbanasich, who had been for 
some time teacher and assistant preacher at Rome, 
removed to Cagliari, in Sardinia, where Signor 
Cossu had been laboring for ten years. Cagliari 
was an important seaport, and he opened a work 
among the English, French, German, Swedish, 
and Italian sailors who yearly visited the city. 
He also, with the aid of two colporters, visited 
most of the towns of Southern Sardinia, where 
many Bibles were sold and tracts distributed. 
Among the hopeful signs which Doctor Eager re- 
ported to the Convention of 1887, was that the 
eyes of thousands of people all over Italy had 
been opened, their prejudices conquered, and 
kindly feelings awakened for the evangelicals and 
the truths they preach. 

While on a visit to the United States, Doctor 
Eager raised nearly ^5,000 as a chapel fund, and 
a portion of this amount was appropriated to a 
chapel in Carpi. The evangelist in charge super- 
intended the construction of the building, and thus 
secured a well-arranged chapel, with an apartment 
attached for the evangelist, at small cost. The 
dedication of the chapel was an event in the town 
and large congregations were in attendance. Sig- 
nor Mattei spoke with power and feeling on the 
theme, " Human Ills and Their Remed}^" 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 1 99 

Journeying from place to place, visiting the 
churches, Doctor Taylor found many opportunities 
to present the truth to his fellow-travelers, often 
opening the way by a gift of tracts. Among 
other interesting experiences was a conversation 
with a young engineer who, with his mother, en- 
tered his compartment. The young man was an 
ardent Romanist, but seemed anxious to talk about 
the differences between his belief and that of his 
fellow-traveler. After a long discussion, in which 
Doctor Taylor dwelt upon the spiritual aspect of 
the question, seeking to arouse his conscience to 
the need of personal relation with God through 
Christ, the young man pleaded for images to help 
the worship of the ignorant. In reply, Doctor 
Taylor quoted the second commandment, taxed 
Romanism with idolatry, and added that the 
Church of Rome had eliminated the second com- 
mandment and cut one of the others in two to 
make ten. This was some of Doctor Taylor's 
wayside sowing which often, doubtless, fell into 
good ground and brought forth fruit. 

The gifts of the churches in Italy may appear 
insignificant as compared with the amount spent 
upoii the field, yet the principle of self-help had 
been recognized and all the churches contributed 
something toward their local expenses and several 
contributed toward the work of evangelization. 
More might have been raised had the evangelists 



200 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

been less timid, but in view of the extortions 
of the Church of Rome and the manipulations of 
the priests, it was not surprising that they hesi- 
tated to press the matter of giving. There was a 
natural reaction from a system under which every 
religious privilege had its price, and considering 
this fact, remarkable progress had been made. 
The missionaries rejoiced in many manifestations 
of Christian grace among the church-members. 

The opening for evangelistic work in Sardinia 
seemed very fair. One of the colporters on the 
island wrote that he had suffered no persecution 
and the people listened willingly when he told 
them of Jesus. He sold many books, distributed 
thousands of tracts, and secured many subscribers 
to "// Testimonio." In the little town of San 
Vito, though a priest lived there, one heard not of 
saints and madonnas, but only of God. In reply 
to a salutation one would receive a gracious smile 
and the suggestive words, '^ Go on with God." If 
at parting one said, ^^ Arrive derciy' the immediate 
response would be, *' Yes, with God." Three can- 
didates for baptism — an old man of seventy-two 
years and his two sons — arose at midnight and 
walked about twelve miles to receive the rite. 
They beguiled the tedium of the journey with 
songs of praise and their faces were radiant with 
joy when they reached their journey's end. These 
were the firstfruits at the little outstation of Sa- 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 20I 

liqua. Another interesting conversion was that 
of Signor Salvator Pittoria, who, though he be- 
longed to a well-to-do family in the north of the 
island, had grown up to manhood, like many Sar- 
dinians, in utter ignorance. Becoming ashamed 
of his ignorance, he determined to become an 
educated man. He began at once to go to school 
like a small boy, disregarding the ridicule of his 
friends, and persevered until he had secured the 
superior diploma, which gave him the right to teach 
the higher classes in the communal schools. While 
in Iglesias, awaiting a change of position, he en- 
countered a Baptist colporter, a fellow-townsman. 
The- next Sunday he appeared at the Baptist 
meeting and thereafter was never absent. Each 
day he was with the evangelist, Signor Tortonese, 
reading, conversing, and praying. Before his de- 
parture to accept a position elsewhere, he desired 
to be baptized, and after a searching examination 
he was admitted to the ordinance. 

In Florence too, the outlook was encouraging. 
During the summer of 1 891, in spite of the heat 
and other disadvantages, the congregation in- 
creased rather than diminished, and on August 23, 
Doctor Eager rejoiced over the baptism of five 
candidates. A little company of thirty gathered 
at six o'clock on Sunday morning and went two 
miles down the river Arno, to a quiet spot beyond 
the limits of the city. Under the shade of the 



202 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

trees the morning service was held, the rippling 
water and the singing birds joining in the paean of 
praise and thanksgiving. An old woman, a young 
lady, and three young men were baptized. The 
young lady was the daughter of Signor Bellondi, 
and was temporarily in Florence. One of the 
young men was an ex-priest, who was developing 
into an excellent Christian worker, and another 
was a young brother, Carlo Piccinni, by name, 
who was doing excellent work in Miglionico, over 
toward the Adriatic, south of Bari, In the even- 
ing the company gathered in the hall to partake of 
the Lord's Supper, and for once it proved too 
small for the congregation. 

Prior to the baptism of Carlo Piccinni, Doctor 
Taylor visited him at Miglionico. He found the 
village beautiful for situation, but like most of 
these lofty Italian villages more poetical seen from 
a distance than from a nearer point of view. The 
houses were usually one story over a cellar and the 
streets were narrow and not very clean. He was 
welcomed into a comfortable Christian home and 
treated with all possible kindness. At dusk the 
night school gathered, about forty young people, 
who were instructed by Piccinni with great tact 
and wisdom. This young man of twenty-three 
had served in the army and while stationed at 
Florence was led into the light of the gospel and 
subsequently embraced Baptist views. After a 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 20$ 

year of study with the Free Church he returned 
to his native place and was the means of a religious 
awakening there. Partly owing to the fact that his 
family was large and well known, but chiefly because 
of his own prudence in abstaining from controversy, 
he won the confidence of the community. The even- 
ing before Doctor Taylor was to leave, a large 
company assembled for the evening service, but he 
was unable to leave his room. They must needs 
say good-bye to him, however, and filed through 
his chamber, men, women with babies in their 
arms, half-grown boys, and little girls. Each said 
some kind word or silently kissed his hand or cheek. 
It was a rare and touching experience. He had 
not heretofore met such generous and disinterested 
hospitality in Italy. In the spring of 1892, Pic- 
cinni went to Florence and married a young girl 
to whom he had been engaged for some time. She 
and her family were the means of leading him to 
Christ. On their arrival in Miglionico they found 
their house full of people met to welcome the bride. 
A church was soon organized at Miglionico and 
arrangements were made to erect a building, toward 
which the members subscribed, in materials, work, 
and money, several hundred francs. 

The outlook at the beginning of 1893, while 
clouded by many difficulties, was not without 
gleams of encouragement. The churches of Cag- 
liari and Milan joined themselves to Bari in paying 



204 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

all incidental expenses. In Sardinia, Tuscany, 
Southeastern Italy, the Western Riviera, and the 
Waldensian valleys, the gospel was widely diffused 
through the labors of colporters and evangelists. 
Among these colporters was a man who had spent 
fifteen years in England and France as a peddler. 
Coming under the influence of the McAll Mission, 
in France, he was converted and became eager to 
carry the good news to his fellow-countrymen. He 
was a calm, happy, courageous Christian, ready to 
risk anything that he might tell the people of 
Christ. To his great joy the way was at last 
opened. His merchandise enabled him to enter 
many a house closed to the preacher or regular 
colporter. His work was among the hamlets and 
country houses that abound in Tuscany. He 
walked on an average three hundred miles a month 
and visited not less than twenty houses a day, 
holding religious conversation in every house and 
leaving tracts. 

In the summer of 1893 a simple and beautiful 
white marble baptistery was put in the hall at 
Florence, the only one in the city except the 
ancient one where immersion was practised 
in the early history of the church. On the Sun- 
day following its completion four persons were 
baptized. The service was solemn and impressive 
in spite of the fact that many of those present had 
never before witnessed the ordinance. Several 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 205 

persons after seeing it said this one occasion had 
convinced them that the Bible taught immersion. 
In October, 1894, Doctors Taylor and Eager went 
to Miglionico to assist in the dedication of the 
church. Two suits brought by the clericals to 
prevent its erection had been decided against them 
and the church, a simple but beautifully symmet- 
rical building, was completed. Within, the walls 
were covered with frescoes and passages of Scrip- 
ture well done by a local artist, and the baptistery 
was hewn from a solid rock. The dedication was 
largely attended, despite clerical opposition. 

Though before the law Italy claimed religious 
toleration in theory and religious liberty in fact, 
there were many cases of persecution for con- 
science' sake which no law could reach. Among 
these instances was that of four men who were 
dismissed from the mines of Monteponi because 
they attended the Baptist church at Iglesias. Two 
of these persons were thus brought to extreme 
want, but they would not be unfaithful to their 
Lord and his word. One of these four men, An- 
tonio Saiu, had been led to Christ in a most re- 
markable way. A companion of his won a beau- 
tiful book at roulette. It was a New Testament, 
and after trying in vain to exchange it he put it in 
his pocket. There it seemed to burn him as he 
thought of carrying an accursed book. He offered 
it to Antonio, who accepted it and carried it home. 



206 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

His wife was terror stricken at the idea of having 
an excommunicated book in the house and he was 
about to put it in the fire when an old man stopped 
him, saying it was a good book and he had read it 
for twenty years. *< Read it first," said he, **and 
if you find it bad there is time enough to throw it 
in the fire." Antonio kept the book and began 
to read and study it secretly. Then finding so 
much good in it he decided to read it to his father 
and his wife ; they too began to like it. He car- 
ried it in his pocket when he went to work, and 
one day, having laid aside his jacket for a short 
time, he returned to find the book gone. Some 
days later he said God sent him back his Testa- 
ment in the mouth of a dog. He learned to love 
it more and more and through its teachings found 
pardon and peace. 

The year 1895 marked a distinct advance in the 
gifts of the Italian churches, and Doctor Taylor 
believed that they had made progress, not only nu- 
merically and financially, but also in solidity. The 
missionaries all over Italy were cheered with a 
brighter prospect than for years past ; the diffi- 
culties were no less but the encouragements were 
greater and the results more tangible. In his re- 
port to the Convention of 1896, Doctor Taylor 
made a strong appeal for the establishment of a 
work in Trieste, Austria. Here was a little band 
of brethren whose zeal and longing for a minister 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 207 

deeply impressed Doctor Eager and himself. A 
Baptist lady from Milan, residing in Trieste, had 
been writing to Doctor Taylor urging him to send 
a Baptist minister to the city of her adoption. 
Her husband, Mr. Washchitz, was a colporter of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society and a 
stanch Baptist. He had gone where the fire of 
persecution was hottest and had more than once 
been beaten almost to death for Christ's sake. 
Desiring to see the situation for himself Doctor 
Taylor visited Trieste and was entertained in the 
home of Mr. Washchitz. Two services were held 
and the people listened eagerly, seeming hungry 
and thirsty for the word. One man, notified by 
telegram of the missionaries' visit, traveled four 
hours' journey by rail to attend the services. Mr. 
Washchitz pleaded earnestly for Austria, his na- 
tive land, whose soil had been drenched with the 
blood of Baptist martyrs, saying : '' Only send a 
shepherd to look after these sheep in the wilder- 
ness, and I will be the shepherd's dog to help him 
all I can." 

Doctor Eager felt it his duty to resign from the 
Italian Mission in 1896, and the work was given 
into the care of Signor Galassi, who had had charge 
of it during Doctor Eager's stay in the United 
States. The work continued to prosper under 
Signor Galassi's care. The church-members were 
endued with the missionary spirit and were ready. 



208 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

in the meetings or elsewhere, to speak for Christ. 
He has proved himself an all-around man, for be- 
sides increasing his church, developing its gifts, 
and doing excellent evangelistic work, he has writ- 
ten several effective tracts. He is said to be 
equally able with the pen and in the pulpit and 
alike successful as preacher and pastor. His mode 
of conducting meetings is full of spirit and move- 
ment and his methods are popular, while at the 
same time devout and edifying. A large evangel- 
istic work was carried on in Tuscany by Signor 
Galassi, several of his members, and three col- 
porters, under his supervision but supported by 
an English lady. Difficulty and danger often at- 
tended this work. The priests in Florence were 
bold and overbearing, and at Poggio and Carano, 
ten miles away, fanaticism was rampant. The 
evangelist was warned by the authorities not to 
return there and was obliged to hold service under 
ground with a little band who, in spite of bitter 
persecution, remained faithful. 

Doctor Taylor regarded his visit to Trieste in 
the autumn of 1897 with peculiar joy. As upon 
the day of Pentecost, representatives of many na- 
tionalities gathered in the upper room, one in 
heart through the gracious presence of the Holy 
Spirit. The Lord's Supper was celebrated and 
four persons were received for baptism. The 
church met every Sabbath in the home of Mr. and 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 209 

Mrs. Washchitz and strangers were always enter- 
tained at their table. There are in Trieste, not 
counting foreign congregations, only Roman Cath- 
olics and this little band of Baptists. Doctor 
Taylor had made all arrangements for a prolonged 
visit to Trieste, when the assassination of the Em- 
press Elizabeth of Austria by an Italian aroused 
such excitement he deemed it prudent to abandon 
the plan. Nothing, therefore, was done for Trieste 
during the year 1898, but the brethren in Italy 
continued to contribute liberally for the evangel- 
ization of their fellow-countrymen in that almost 
Italian city. 

In his journeyings among the churches. Doctor 
Taylor was especially gratified by the progress 
made at Gravina. The church had rented a good 
locale and had paid the rent and the cost of fres- 
coing, furnishing, and adapting it to its new uses. 
He was present the day it was opened and took 
part in the impressive services, baptizing five can- 
didates. Less than ten years previous a single 
evangelist had carried the gospel hither at the risk 
of his life while the Lenten preacher cried : *' Say 
with me, O people, death to the Protestants ! " 
Doctor Taylor's missionary journeys embraced 
nearly all Italy. In a summary of his experiences 
he said he was much pleased with the meeting in 
Milan, impressed with the tact and good manage- 
ment of the evangelist in Florence, and touched 

o 



210 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

with the brotherly affection shown him in Bari. 
Indeed, he says, perhaps the brightest of the 
Christian graces found in the ItaHan churches is 
practical brotherly love. His visit to Sassari was 
an agreeable surprise, for though the evangelist 
was half blind, subject to epilepsy, and with mem- 
ory almost gone, he and his had so lived and 
worked that a good congregation had been gath- 
ered with persons asking baptism. The minister 
had not forgotten his Bible learned years before, 
but was able to conduct meetings excellently. 

During the year 1899 the responsibilities and 
opportunities of the Italian Mission were enlarged 
by taking over the work of the English Baptist 
Missionary Society in the South, that society wish- 
ing to concentrate its energies in the North of 
Italy. This work consisted of a church of bap- 
tized believers in Naples and another in Calitri, a 
mountain town in the province of Avellino, the 
latter being famous in all the country round for 
the observance of the day of rest. The mission 
also accepted a small body of communicants and a 
locale in Naples, turned over by Count Papengouth 
who was leaving the city. Three new and inviting 
fields providentially opened were also added : Con- 
sandola, in the province of Ferara ; Minturno, on 
the Mediterranean coast, half-way between Rome 
and Naples ; and Rheggio, the ancient Rhegium, 
on the extreme southern coast of the Italian pen- 



THE ITALIAN MISSION 2 1 I 

insula. The gospel was proclaimed to the first of 
these by an independent colporter, and to the 
other two by home people who had heard it else- 
where and having returned gladly told the good 
news to their fellow-citizens. The Italians travel 
much and thus, as in the early days, the gospel is 
carried from place to place. 

One of the latest additions to the Italian Mission 
is Signor Stanginini, who is proving himself one of 
the best and most useful of all the evangelists. 
While not young in years he is so in strength and 
enterprise and has been very successful in winning 
souls to Christ. In June, 1900, the Board ap- 
pointed C. J. F. Anderson, then pastor at Hert- 
ford, N. C, a missionary to Italy. He is said to 
be a man of tact, intelligence, consecration, and 
culture, eminently qualified to become a foreign 
missionary. He was married to Miss Mary Jordan, 
of Hertford, and in October they sailed for their 
field. The congregations of Castelletto and Torre- 
pellice, neither of which the mission was able to 
cultivate vigorously, were given over to the English 
Baptist Missionary Society in 1900, but the addi- 
tion of two new Baptist churches was a ground for 
gratitude. Forty years before, a converted parish 
priest in Messina formed there an evangelical 
church and after ministering to it for several years 
went as a missionary to India. His son carried on 
the work, supported by voluntary contributions 



212 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

from England. Having become convinced that 
Baptist principles conformed most closely to the 
Scriptures he applied to Doctor Taylor to join the 
mission. The young man was well instructed, 
endowed with preaching ability, and full of mis- 
sionary zeal. His family was known and esteemed 
in the community. He with nineteen others were 
baptized. The preaching on that occasion and the 
baptism excited great interest, the large hall being- 
well filled day after day. On December 4, 1900, 
Rev. D. G. Whittinghill, then pastor at Bonham, 
Texas, was appointed a missionary to Italy to un- 
dertake the special work of starting a Baptist train- 
ing school for native preachers, and it was opened 
in the fall of 1901. 

The work in Italy has been largely preparatory 
and success must not be estimated by the number 
of converts, though as many again as the six hun- 
dred and twenty-four communicants reported in 
1900 have died in the faith or emigrated to other 
lands bearing their testimony to the truth. All 
depends, humanly speaking, says Count Papen- 
gouth, on the ground being thoroughly prepared, 
and the present stage of our work in Italy pre- 
cisely corresponds to that period. The slow, 
monotonous, irksome toiling in the night is giving 
place to the dawn that announces the glorious day, 
and the sowing with tears heralds a gospel har- 
vesting in joy. 



X 

THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 

FOR some years prior to any attempt at estab- 
lishing a mission in Brazil, the Foreign Mis- 
sion Board had been looking toward Central and 
South America as missionary fields, and when, in 
1859, ^^- T. J. Bowen requested to be transferred 
from the Yoruba Mission in West Africa to open 
a mission in Brazil, ready consent was given. In 
the shattered condition of his nervous system, Mr. 
Bowen feared to return to Africa, but the climate 
of Brazil proved no more congenial, and in 186 1, 
he returned to the United States. The obstacles 
to the work seemed so great and the prospect of 
overcoming them so slight, that before Mr. Bowen's 
return the Board was considering the abandonment 
of the enterprise. 

In 1873 a request was presented to the Foreign 
Mission Board from a little church of Americans 
organized at Santa Barbara, in the province of 
Sao Paulo, to consider Brazil as a mission field 
and the advisability of sending missionaries there. 
This church was composed of Americans who had 
emigrated to Brazil at the close of the Civil War 

213 



214 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

and had made it a permanent home. Mindful of 
the failure of 1861, the Board was slow to under- 
take this work, but in 1879, after careful consider- 
ation, decided to accept the proposition. The 
church, known as the First Baptist Church of 
Brazil, numbered thirty members. It was self- 
supporting, but desired to be received by the 
Board as an independent mission and agreed to 
foster every effort for the evangelization of Brazil. 
The pastor. Rev. E. H. Quillin, offered to accept 
an appointment to the Brazilians and make no 
charge for his services. He was said to be a man 
of ability and exemplary life, thoroughly conver- 
sant with Brazilian affairs, esteemed by Americans 
and popular with Brazilians. In November, 1879, 
a little church was organized at Station by twelve 
members from the church at Santa Barbara. Mr. 
Quillin was pastor of this church also. 

The Convention of 1880 authorized the Foreign 
Mission Board to appoint additional missionaries 
to Brazil, and in January, 1881, Mr. and Mrs. W. 
B. Bagby, of Texas, sailed for that country. Both 
were deeply interested in foreign missions, and 
their attention was turned to Brazil by the urgent 
appeals of General A. T. Hawthorne, agent of the 
Foreign Mission Board in Texas, who had spent 
there the years succeeding the Civil War and had 
become profoundly impressed with its need of 
Christianity. On his arrival in Santa Barbara, 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 21$ 

Mr. Bagby reported the two churches very weak. 
Some discouraging features were in the outlook, 
but there was also much to encourage. The Bra- 
zilians seemed willing to hear the gospel ; but a 
year would be needful to acquire a correct knowl- 
edge of the language, and meanwhile there would 
be opportunities to preach to the Americans, who 
needed it sorely. He urged the sending out of other 
missionaries at once, as it would be a great advan- 
tage to commence work with a larger force. In 
the summer of 1881 Mr. Bagby held a protracted 
meeting that resulted in a gracious revival and the 
baptism of six converts. Near the close of the 
year he had the pleasure of preaching four sermons 
in Portuguese. 

The year following, in March, 1882, Mr. and 
Mrs. Z. C. Taylor, also of Texas, were welcomed 
to the mission at Santa Barbara. Mr. Taylor's in- 
terest in Brazil had been awakened while yet the 
outlook was dark and the Foreign Mission Board 
had appointed no missionaries. That interest was 
fostered by correspondence with the Rev. Richard 
Ratcliffe, formerly a member of the church at 
Santa Barbara, but who had returned to the United 
States after having spent ten years in Brazil. 
While on a visit to Texas, Doctor Tupper encour- 
aged Mr. Taylor to continue his preparations, as he 
thought the Board would be willing to send him 
when he was ready to go with his wife, whose mis- 



2l6 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B, CONVENTION 

sionary impressions were of an earlier date than 
her conversion. 

Letters from the missionaries urged attention 
to the vast territory needing evangelization, the 
millions who had never heard the gospel, and the 
number of men needed to preach Christ in that 
great country. After an extended survey of the 
field, Messrs. Bagby and Taylor decided to change 
the base of operations and settle in Bahia, a coast 
city about seven hundred miles northeast of Sao 
Paulo and thirteen degrees south of the equator. 
With a population of two hundred thousand, it 
was the second largest city in the empire. It 
was accessible by sea, railroads, and rivers, and 
there were many large surrounding towns almost 
entirely unoccupied. It had the additional advan- 
tage of being one of the most healthful cities on 
the coast. When the missionaries removed to 
Bahia the Board made no provision for the church 
at Santa Barabara, hoping that it might become 
self-supporting and doubting the wisdom of main- 
taining a mission so far from headquarters in Bahia 
and in a province already occupied by another de- 
nomination. Before Mr. Bagby left Santa Barbara 
he held a protracted meeting and the church en- 
joyed a delightful season of revival ; five were bap- 
tized and the church was greatly refreshed and 
strengthened. 

Arriving in Bahia, the missionaries rented a 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 21/ 

large building in the central part of the city, which 
served as home and church, the preaching hall 
accommodating about two hundred persons. On 
the fifteenth of October, 1882, the missionaries 
organized themselves into the First Baptist Church 
of Bahia, and were ready to enter upon aggressive 
work. Early in January they began public serv- 
ices in the hall, and, although the priests de- 
nounced them publicly and warned the people 
against attending the services, they continued to 
come. Many read the leaflets and tracts dis- 
tributed, and the influence of the missionaries 
steadily increased. Encouraging progress was re- 
ported to the Convention of 1884. Twenty had 
been baptized and the feeble church had grown to 
a strong body of twenty-five. All of the men of 
the church prayed in public and were zealous in 
inducing friends to attend the services. They 
displayed great heroism in times of persecution 
and peril. The success of the missionaries was 
such that it could not fail to arouse antagonism, and 
some soldiers were imprisoned for attending Prot- 
estant worship. Mr. Bagby was knocked down 
while preaching, and he and his wife were arrested 
as he was about to administer the ordinance of 
baptism. The place where Mr. Taylor was accus- 
tomed to preach was stoned, and city officials 
joined the mob in deriding the religion of Christ. 
Church-members were turned out of their homes 



2l8 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

and dismissed from business because they pre- 
ferred to obey God rather than men. As the year 
advanced, the attitude of the people changed, and 
in some places all prejudice seemed to die out. 
Mr. Taylor attributed this change to the circula- 
tion of so many Bibles and tracts. A man on the 
streets of Bahia was heard to remark that he had 
never before heard so much talk about the Bible 
and religion and the gospel. A government offi- 
cial said publicly : *' These men who come from 
the United States teach us the true religion of 
Jesus Christ, — they do not seek our money, as 
the padres do, but preach free salvation through 
Jesus Christ. This is the true church." 

As soon as the mission at Bahia was well estab- 
lished hopes were entertained of opening a mission 
in Rio de Janeiro, a center as accessible to all the 
southern portion of Brazil as Bahia was to the 
northern, and a point from which the missionaries 
could look after the church at Santa Barbara. 
This hope was realized in July, 1884, when Mr. 
and Mrs. Bagby removed to Rio, leaving Mr. and 
Mrs. Taylor at Bahia. A large, cool, well-located 
hall was secured, preaching was listened to with 
attention, and the work opened up encouragingly. 
A church of four members was organized on the 
twenty-fourth of August, and soon after this small 
body was strengthened by the addition of a lady 
from Scotland and several English people. One 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 219 

of these supported a missionary among the Eng- 
lish and American sailors in Rio, who also united 
with the church. Another valuable worker was 
gained by the baptism of Senor Mesquita, who 
had labored fourteen years among his countrymen 
in connection with another denomination. He 
was a zealous, earnest preacher, and was accepted 
as Mr. Bagby's assistant. In 1886 the church 
numbered eighteen members and supported a col- 
porter and an English woman as a Bible reader. 
The efforts of the missionaries to impress upon 
the native brethren the duty of contributing lib- 
erally to the support of the gospel met with grati- 
fying success. 

The arrival of reinforcements on December 31, 
1885, rejoiced the hearts of the lonely missiona- 
ries in Rio de Janeiro. The missionary party 
consisted of Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Puthuff, Mr. and 
Mrs. C. D. Daniel, and Miss Mina Everett. Messrs. 
Puthuff and Daniel passed through similar expe- 
riences in their religious life. Both resisted the 
call to the ministry, feeling that they were lacking 
in education and seeing no prospect of obtaining 
the opportunity to study. The way was provi- 
dentially opened for them to enter Baylor Univer- 
sity at Waco, and while there the decision was made 
to offer themselves for the foreign mission work. 
Mr. Daniel had a peculiar interest in Brazil, his 
father having emigrated thither at the close of the 



220 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Civil War and several years of his early youth 
having been spent there. Broken down in health, 
Mr. Taylor was forced to return to the United 
States, arriving early in 1887. He was accom- 
panied by Miss Everett, who, equally broken 
down, decided to abandon the field. 

After becoming familiar with the work, Mr. and 
Mrs. Puthuff removed to Santa Barbara, thus 
leaving Mr, Soper free to take charge of the mis- 
sion at Rio de Janeiro, while Mr. and Mrs. Bagby 
returned home to recuperate. Mr. Soper rejoiced 
over a work of grace among the English-speaking 
people in Rio, though in another denomination. 
His work among the English had enlisted his 
interest in them and their lives had been such a 
hindrance to mission work. The missionaries were 
often told to Christianize their own people before 
teaching the Brazilians. Work among the Bra- 
zilians also showed signs of God's quickening 
presence. 

On his return to Bahia, in July, 1888, Mr. Tay- 
lor found the field in charge of a native assistant, 
the climate having proved so unfavorable to the 
health of Mr. Daniel that he was compelled to go 
to Rio. The work was in a prosperous condition, 
and Mr. Taylor began at once to baptize converts. 
Among these was a physician from a neighboring 
city who had visited Mr. Daniel and told him that 
he had never before heard a sermon, no colporter 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 221 

had ever visited his city, and he had never read 
any gospel literature except the Bible. He and 
his wife had been converted by reading and study- 
ing a Bible which they had found in a distant city. 
He invited some of his friends to come to his 
house to worship God and study his word, and 
twelve others were converted. The little com- 
pany met regularly and resolved to take the Bible 
for their guide until the Lord should send some 
one to instruct them. This man had been a 
Romish zealot, the director of the feast of Saint 
Benedict, an honor almost equal to the title of 
count or marquis in Europe. He removed to 
Bahia to enjoy church privileges, and before his 
baptism began to distribute tracts and books. Be- 
fore the close of the year 1888, Mr. and Mrs. J. 
A. Barker were welcomed to this mission, and the 
church soon rejoiced in a building secured by its 
own self-denying effort. The members agreed to 
raise ^1,000 if. the Board would appropriate ^4,000, 
and nobly fulfilled the agreement. 

The great mining province of Minas Geraes with 
a population of three million, seemed to offer an 
inviting field. The country is mountainous and 
free from the ravages of yellow fever. Immigra- 
tion was pouring in and new cities were springing 
up in every direction. Mr. Puthuff was anxious to 
leave Santa Barbara and devote himself to work 
among the Brazilians and it had been a cherished 



222 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

wish of his and Mr. Daniel's to open a new station 
where they might work together. The Board 
yielded to the desire of the missionaries and de- 
cided to enter the field. Meanwhile Mrs. Puthuff's 
health failed and they were obliged to return 
home. Soon afterward their connection with the 
Board, as also that of Mr. and Mrs. Barker, was 
severed. The inhospitable climate was very detri- 
mental to the success of the Brazilian Mission, 
making frequent visits to the States necessary, and 
often forcing the missionaries to retire from the 
field. Mr. Daniel located in Juiz de Fora, in the 
State of Minas Geraes, a modern city with wide 
streets and a homelike air. The people seemed 
more advanced than most of the Brazilians. A lit- 
tle church of four members was organized in 1889, 
which grew in numbers and in the grace of giving. 
In the midst of success and encouragement, Mr. 
Daniel was compelled to abandon the field owing 
to his wife's enfeebled health. The church he 
had founded in prayer and earnest effort was thus 
left without a missionary. Mr. Bagby visited it, 
however, and endeavored to keep up the work. He 
found two or three faithful members, a number of 
interested persons, and three who had been con- 
verted under Mr. Daniel's ministry asking for bap- 
tism. The ordinance had to be administered at 
night in the river at some distance from the city. 
Amid cheerless surroundings and a chilly rain. 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 223 

these faithful believers went joyfully down into the 
water to be buried with Christ in the likeness of 
his death. The outlook seemed so promising that 
Mr. Bagby rented a small hall for preaching, and 
left the native brother who accompanied him to 
carry on the work. In the summer of 1890 Mr. 
Soper located in Juiz de Fora. He spent much 
time in reorganizing and equipping the mission and 
his efforts were so far successful that he was 
enabled to rejoice in what he termed a splendid 
mission house, in well-attended outdoor meetings, 
and the fidelity of his flock, which numbered 
eighteen. 

A change of government involving civil mar- 
riage, religious liberty, and complete separation of 
Church and State, seemed to open many doors to 
the gospel and encouraged the missionaries with 
large hopes for the future of missions in Brazil. 
Miss Emma Morton applied to the Board in 1889, 
to be allowed to fill the place left vacant by the 
death of Miss Rice, a young missionary from Mis- 
souri who had succumbed to yellow fever. She 
was deeply interested in Brazilian missions, entered 
heartily into the work and proved a valuable ac- 
quisition to the mission at Rio de Janeiro. 

A remarkable instance of heroic brotherly kind- 
ness was manifested by members of the little 
church at Bahia in the summer of 1890. Small- 
pox, a disease more dreaded in Brazil than any 



224 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

other except cholera, became epidemic in the city 
of Alagoinhas. Hearing of the distress caused by 
it, some of the Christians in Bahia decided to go 
to the relief of the sufferers. Six men and women 
volunteered and Mr. Taylor accompanied them, 
the railroad furnishing passes. They found more 
than a hundred cases, some huddled together in 
old houses on pieces of plank or mats, and some on 
the ground. The hospitals were little better than 
places of negligence and death, and the ignorant 
and superstitious people often refused medical 
treatment and went into hiding rather than be car- 
ried to the hospital. There were only two nurses, 
who at night locked the doors and went home. 
After conferring with the authorities and the doc- 
tor in charge, Mr. Taylor returned to raise money 
to aid the sick. As the epidemic declined the 
public began to realize the condition of affairs and 
the Christians from Bahia were able to return 
home after having given twenty days to alleviating 
the sufferings in Alagoinhas. 

The year 1891 was one of unprecedented prog- 
ress in the Rio mission. The missionaries rejoiced 
in the baptism of forty-four converts, the organiza- 
tion of three new churches, the native Christians 
aroused and organized for aggressive work, the 
extension of their efforts into new fields, and a 
bright outlook for the future opening in every di- 
rection. The political situation was one of con- 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 22 5 

fusion but this did not interfere with the progress 
of the work. In the State of Sao Paulo there 
were three churches of foreigners in charge of the 
Rio mission. Two of these churches had been 
constituted by the mission and were composed of 
German Russians who had fled from Russian 
tyranny. These were described as earnest and 
zealous bodies greatly desiring to be used of the 
Lord for the good of his cause. The third church 
was composed of North Americans. These 
churches could not be neglected, for, if properly 
trained and utilized, they would become a great 
help in extending the gospel among their Brazilian 
neighbors. 

A very promising station was opened in the 
northern part of the State of Rio de Janeiro, at 
Campos, the center of an inviting section for mis- 
sionary operations. The city had three railroads, 
river navigation for steamers, and was surrounded 
by a fine section of country. On his first visit to 
Campos, Mr. Bagby was so encouraged by the 
prospect that he decided to leave a native brother 
on the field and through the liberality of a mem- 
ber of the church at Rio the expense of opening a 
hall and furnishing it was promptly met. The at- 
tendance on public preaching was good from the 
first and Mr. Bagby found converts awaiting bap- 
tism whenever he visited Campos. These con- 
verts were baptized late at night in the Parahyba 



226 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

River. In March, 1891, a church of ten members 
was constituted, four newly baptized believers were 
received as members, and one candidate was ac- 
cepted for baptism. Thus the little church entered 
upon its work with fifteen members and bright 
prospects ahead. The missionaries were greatly 
cheered and encouraged during the year 1891, by 
the arrival of six co-workers ; Mr. and Mrs. Entz- 
minger, who were appointed to Bahia; Mr. and 
Mrs. J. J. Taylor to Rio de Janeiro ; and Mr. and 
Mrs. J. L. Downing to Juiz de Fora. 

The year 1892 brought to the mission a wel- 
come addition in the person of Mr. S. L. Gins- 
burg, who had been a self-supporting missionary 
with the views of the Congregationalists. He is a 
Russian by birth, and his father was a rabbi in 
that country. Mr. Ginsburg studied eight years 
in Germany, and went to London at the age of 
sixteen to become a business man. He was con- 
verted by reading the New Testament, and wish- 
ing to become a missionary he was sent to the 
Grattan Guinness College, whence he went to 
Brazil. Through conversation with Mr. Taylor, at 
Bahia, and correspondence with Mr. Soper, he re- 
ceived more light on God's word, and after making 
a thorough study of the subject of baptism, asked 
to be received into the church at Bahia. He 
appeared to be particularly well qualified for the 
work, having had special training and possessing 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 22/ 

a natural gift for languages. He is an attractive 
speaker and a good writer ; his hymns in Portu- 
guese soon became popular. On the endorsement 
of the mission he was employed to work in Bahia, 
and has fully justified the hopes his appointment 
awakened. Shortly after his appointment he was 
married to Miss C. E. Bishop, a young English 
woman also thoroughly equipped for missionary 
work, who had come to Brazil to aid him in its 
evangelization. She was rapidly endearing her- 
self to the mission by her noble qualities of mind 
and heart when she fell a victim to yellow fever. 

An entrance into Amargosa, one of the best 
commercial cities in the interior of the State of 
Bahia, was effected in a peculiar way. Two gentle- 
men from Amargosa, one a captain and the other 
a colonel, called on Mr. Ginsburg one day and told 
him they had come to beg him to visit them and 
preach to the people the gospel of the Lord Jesus. 
They had bought a Bible and several tracts from 
a colporter who passed through Amargosa, and 
after reading and re-reading the Bible, had become 
so interested that they longed to know more about 
it. Seeing his address on one of the tracts they 
had come to him for more light on the wonderful 
words of the book. Mr. Ginsburg seized the first 
opportunity to make a trip to Amargosa, and was 
deeply gratified at his kindly reception and the in- 
terest manifested in his message. Large numbers 



228 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 



attended the services, listening profoundly with 
eager faces and bent heads. It seemed, said Mr. 
Ginsburg, as if the Spirit of the Lord was awak- 
ing them from a long sleep. The priest expostu- 
lated with the president of the Municipal House 
for buying a Bible without the bishop's permis- 
sion and for countenancing Protestants. The 
president replied : " Sir priest, I also have judg- 
ment and a conscience." 

For the sake of unity and mutual support the 
several missions in Brazil organized a convention 
in June, 1892. Some changes and some advances 
were made by this organization. The headquarters 
of the Minas mission were removed from Juiz de 
Fora to Campos, in the State of Rio de Janeiro ; 
the State of Espirito Santo was entered and a 
mission founded in its capital ; Mr. Entzminger 
removed from Bahia to Pernambuco, and Mr. 
Ginsburg from Bahia to Nictheroy, the capital of 
the State of Rio de Janeiro. There was now a 
line of mission stations from Sao Paulo in the 
south to Pernambuco in the north. The latter 
was one of the most inviting fields in Brazil. 
Many seemed anxious to know the truth of the 
gospel, and members of other churches especially 
were stirred concerning Baptist doctrine. Having 
recovered from a perilous illness in the States, 
Mrs. Taylor returned to Brazil with her husband 
in September, 1892. Though unable to resume 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 229 

her former untiring efforts, she maintained her 
profound interest in the work, and her heroic en- 
durance and cheerful patience rendered her pres- 
ence a benediction to the mission. Mr. and Mrs. 
Taylor were accompanied by Miss S. E. Johnson, 
who was able to begin work at once in school and 
Sunday-school. 

Joy and sorrow, sunshine and shadow, gain and 
loss, fell interchangeably upon the mission in Bra- 
zil during the year 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Soper 
and Mr. and Mrs. Downing were compelled by en- 
feebled health to give up the work, and Miss John- 
son, who was proving herself an excellent mission- 
ary, was forced to return home, being unable to 
endure the Brazilian climate. The mission was 
reinforced, however, by the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. 
S. J. Porter, R. E. Neighbour, and Joseph Arden. 
Mr. and Mrs. Porter located in Juiz de Fora ; Mr. 
Neighbour went to Bahia to assist Mr. Taylor ; 
and Mr. Arden, with a native helper, took up his 
residence in Maceio. Early in the year Mr. Gins- 
burg entered upon his work in Nictheroy. The 
members of this little church were remarkable for 
their faith and zeal. They had covenanted to- 
gether to pray for everything they wanted, and 
Mr. Ginsburg became their pastor in answer to 
earnest prayer. In the midst of success and en- 
couragement the work had to be temporarily sus. 
pended, owing to the revolution and the bombard- 



230 MISSIONARY WORK OF S, B. CONVENTION 

ment of the city. All business was practically 
stopped, and in many places the people suffered 
as if a famine were upon them. There being no 
hope of resuming work in Nictheroy for some 
time, Mr. Ginsburg removed to Campos. Before 
going thither he was married to Miss Morton, and 
together they entered upon their work in this new 
field. 

From the beginning of missionary effort in 
Brazil, the printed page has been an invaluable 
factor. Thousands of Bibles have been sold and 
distributed by colporters, and through them many 
have been led to seek the way of life. They find 
their way into many homes barred against the 
missionary and sometimes open the way for his 
future entrance. The Board, recognizing the im- 
portance of this work, put one thousand dollars of 
the permanent fund collected during the Centen- 
nial year into an excellent press at Bahia. A re- 
ligious journal for the dissemination of Baptist 
principles has usually been maintained. Soon 
after his removal to Campos, Mr, Ginsburg was 
enabled to open a small printing office, and began 
the publication of a religious paper entitled, "As 
Boas Novas " (** Good News "). It was pubhshed 
as a private enterprise, but was widely read and 
was considered a valuable helper in spreading the 
word of God. 

The imprisonment of Mr. Ginsburg in January, 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 23 I 

1894, while preaching with much power and effect- 
iveness at San Fidelis, made apparent the fact 
that though the constitution of Brazil gave full 
liberty to all and promised to protect all faiths and 
religions, in reality Rome still held sway and the 
missionary must sometimes risk both life and 
liberty if he would fearlessly preach the gospel in 
that country. Charges were brought against Mr. 
Ginsburg and he was commanded to desist from 
preaching. On refusing to do so he was im- 
prisoned for nine days, at the end of which time 
the authorities finding the charges unsustained, 
released him. Some months later, in July, Mr. 
Ginsburg had the joy of organizing a church in 
San Fidelis. Persecution was very severe but it 
only served to promote greater love and unity 
among the brethren. 

The church at Campos was greatly hampered 
by the need of a better house, the rich Romanists 
leaving nothing undone to prevent the rental of 
one and the church being too poor to build. Even 
under these adverse conditions the work prospered 
and forty-eight were received by baptism. Mr. 
Ginsburg had an energetic co-worker in Antonio 
Campos, who was accepted by the Board as a 
native helper. His conversion was a remarkable 
one. Reared in the most fanatical of Roman 
Catholic countries, Portugal, he knew nothing 
of any other faith until he was thrown in with a 



232 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 



Methodist pastor who won his sympathy and gave 
him the opportunity to contrast Romanism with 
Protestantism. He began to think the latter much 
more worthy of acceptance, and in his journalistic 
work in Oporto, favored the truth of evangelical- 
ism and combated the abuses and falsities of 
Rome. Thirteen years passed, years of study and 
preparation for the final step. He came to Brazil 
and continued to attack Romanism in the papers 
that opened to him their columns. Believing in 
the truth of evangelicalism he was convinced of the 
necessity of practising it, but something inexplica- 
ble held him back. He knew that he was not a 
Christian, for there was no fruit of spiritual life. 
In his sad state he continued to fight for pure 
Christianity and was considered a Christian. Be- 
coming involved because of his journalism, though 
against his will, in the revolution, he had to leave 
Rio and take refuge in the interior. In this en- 
forced quiet he had time for profound thought. A 
light broke upon his understanding and brought 
to his heart the needed comfort. About this time 
Mr. Ginsburg asked him to contribute some arti- 
cles for his paper. In the correspondence that 
ensued he decided to give himself completely to 
God's service in connection with the Baptists. He 
was licensed by the church in Campos and entered 
upon his work with great love for the cause and 
with increasing zeal. 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 233 

August, 1 894, witnessed a notable advance among 
the churches in South Brazil ; representatives from 
the six native churches met in Rio de Janeiro and or- 
ganized the first Baptist Association in Brazil under 
the name of " The Union of the Churches of Christ 
in South Brazil." The session was a pleasant and 
profitable one. The Brazilian brethren manifested 
a lively interest in the proceedings and showed 
that they appreciated the efforts being made to 
give the gospel to their countrymen, and realized 
the importance of the work before them. They 
decided to begin at once to raise means for sup- 
porting a missionary, either in Brazil or on some 
foreign field. The year was not without its sor- 
row and loss. In August the Bahia mission was 
bereft by the death of Mrs. Z. C. Taylor and by 
the return of Mr. Neighbour. Mr. and Mrs. Porter 
were also compelled to leave their field. Mr. 
Bagby was thus left alone to carry on the work at 
Rio and Nictheroy, but though heavily burdened 
his heart was made to rejoice over the purchase 
of a building for a chapel in the city of Rio de 
Janeiro. For a number of years the church had 
been pleading for a house of worship and the 
women of Missouri were the first to respond to 
the appeal, desiring to erect a memorial to Miss 
Maggie Rice who had given her life to the Mas- 
ter's work in Brazil. Messrs. Joshua and Eugene 
Levering, of Baltimore, added largely to this fund 



234 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

and the church was thus enabled to purchase a 
building centrally located. The church and friends 
in Brazil contributed about fifteen hundred dollars, 
this being used to refit and furnish the chapel. 
The Baptist cause in Rio had been at a serious dis- 
advantage. Other denominations had not only 
been established much longer but had large and 
comfortable houses of worship. With a well- 
located, comfortable, and beautiful church build- 
ing the Baptists felt that they could do much bet- 
ter work. In August, 1895, the church was dedi- 
cated in the presence of a large audience that lis- 
tened with the closest attention. There was great 
rejoicing over this blessing to the Baptist cause in 
Rio de Janeiro and in Brazil. The autumn of 
1895 brought to the mission at Bahia a valuable 
worker in the person of Miss Laura Barton, a for- 
mer missionary to China, who was married to Rev. 
Z. C. Taylor during a vacation visit to the United 
States. 

The year 1895 was one of widespread sowing 
and of a glorious harvest. Conversions, baptisms, 
and listening crowds were reported from every 
station. New churches were formed, energies 
were aroused, faith was quickened into life, and 
new fields were entered. Writing of the outlook, 
Mr. Bagby said that never before in its history had 
the land been so prepared and ready for the mes- 
sengers of the Lord Jesus. Never before had the 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 235 

people shown the inclination to listen to the mes- 
sage of the herald of the cross that manifested 
itself in village and hamlet, in cities and busy 
marts, in quiet retreats and on public highways. 
He was not blind to the difficulties in the way nor 
did he forget the problems constantly arising, but 
believed that God's time for calling this great 
nation to Christ had come, and with it the voice of 
his providence to his people to enter in his name. 
Inspired by many tokens of God's favor the 
missionaries entered upon the year 1896, desiring 
to make it a year of earnest and successful effort. 
In the Pernambuco mission especially was it a 
busy and a prosperous year. Two churches were 
organized, one at Natal, port and capital of Rio 
Grande del Norte, and the other at Nazareth, an 
interior town of the State of Pernambuco. This 
little church was born amid bitter persecution. 
Services had been held in a rented hall for several 
months, when one night it was entered by unknown 
parties, who took the oil from the lamps and sat- 
urating the Bible, organ, and other furnishings, 
set fire to them. The family living next door, 
awakened by the flames and the smoke, hastened 
to the scene and succeeded in arresting the fire, 
but not until the furniture had been destroyed. 
The next morning there was great rejoicing in the 
town over the defeat of the Protestants. A few 
days afterward Mr. Entzminger went to Nazareth 



236 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

to investigate the matter. He was met at the 
station by about a thousand people armed with 
clubs, knives, and pistols to dispatch the heretic, 
but the governor had sent soldiers with him and 
the turbulent mob was converted into a friendly 
escort. The attendance on the services he con- 
ducted was greatly increased and a new impetus 
seemed to be given to the cause of truth. From 
the beginning the little church was self-supporting 
and soon secured a lot and laid the foundation for 
a new chapel. This chapel, erected at an immense 
sacrifice on the part of the members, was dedi- 
cated in August, 1897. 

The year 1897 was one of unprecedented pros- 
perity in the Pernambuco mission. There were 
one hundred and three accessions and larger con- 
tributions were reported than ever before. In 
five years the mission had grown from one little 
church of seventeen members to seven churches 
with a joint membership of two hundred and 
ninety-five. Two of these churches were orga- 
nized in the great Amazon Valley, where two peo- 
ple from the United States, whose hearts the Holy 
Spirit had touched and directed, had been working 
for several years. This couple, Mr. and Mrs. E. 
A. Nelson, were of Swedish parentage, but had 
lived in Kansas for a number of years. Mr. Nel- 
son went out as a self-supporting missionary in 
1 89 1, and endured trials, temptations, and priva- 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 23/ 

tions that would have daunted a less faithful soul. 
Mrs. Nelson, to whom he was engaged when he 
left the States, went out to Brazil and married him 
in 1893. They located in Para, a city of nearly a 
hundred thousand inhabitants at the mouth of the 
Amazon. It is an important commercial city, and 
many people are attracted thither by its rubber 
industry. It is the key to the whole lower Ama- 
zon. With a large package of Bibles, Testaments, 
and tracts under his arm, Mr. Nelson would walk 
up and down the river bank speaking to all who 
came. To sailors from foreign countries, traders 
from the interior, to all he told the good news, 
and many were anxious to obtain the book that 
contained the wonderful story. Mr. Ginsburg re- 
sponded to Mr. Nelson's appeal to come and help 
him in the reaping time which he felt was just at 
hand. On the second of February, 1897, five 
candidates were baptized in the Amazon ; for the 
first time in the history of the Christian church 
this mighty river was used for this purpose. The 
same day a church was organized and Mr. Nelson 
was elected pastor. The whole Amazon Valley 
presented a promising field for missionary work. 
It was practically unoccupied, and along the banks 
of the Purus River there were more than twenty 
savage tribes who had never seen a white man, 
much less heard the gospel story. 

In his own field at Campos Mr. Ginsburg had 



238 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

great cause for rejoicing. In San Fidelis, where 
he had been imprisoned several years before, a 
chapel was finished and he had the pleasure of 
baptizing seven candidates. Among these was 
the coffee farmer who had built the chapel, and 
his wife. While the church was discussing plans 
to secure a house of worship, this man offered to 
build it if the church would pay him six per cent, 
on the money until his death, when it should be- 
come its property. On his conversion he released 
the church from the interest promised and gave 
the chapel. It was dedicated during the meeting 
of the South Brazil Baptist Union, which was held 
at San Fidelis, and a throng of people gathered 
to the services. In April, 1897, Mr. Ginsburg 
had the pleasure of seeing the corner-stone laid 
for a much-needed church edifice in Campos. The 
work was carried on with much determination and 
self-denial, and in the spring of 1898 it was fin- 
ished and dedicated. It was spoken of in the 
newspapers as the beautiful evangelical church, 
and the dedication was an event of interest 
throughout the city. 

Rev. T. C. Joyce, an independent missionary, 
was baptized by Mr. Ginsburg on May i, 1898, 
and became pastor of the church at Campos. Mr. 
Joyce had gone out from England as a missionary 
of the '' Help for Brazil Mission," undenomina- 
tional. After spending a year at Pernambuco he 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 239 

went to Passa Tres, where the church greatly 
prospered under his leadership. He had been 
immersed before leaving England, but conformed 
to the wishes of his church and received members 
by pouring. Becoming aroused on this subject, 
and deeming it unwise to attempt a change in his 
church, he left it and joined the Baptists. The 
church in Campos was much pleased with him and 
he gave promise of great usefulness, but after a 
few months of service his health failed and he was 
compelled to give up the work. 

Rev. C. D. McCarthy, who had had a similar 
experience to that of Mr. Joyce, was also accepted 
by the Board in 1898 and located in Rio, to assist 
Mr. Bagby. Mr. McCarthy was an Irishman by 
birth, and after several years spent in conducting 
missions in England he went to Spain as a Congre- 
gational missionary. After seven years he returned 
to England to be married and while there, with his 
wife, united with the Baptist church. Greatly de- 
siring to go to South America he accepted an ap- 
pointment with the '* Help for Brazil Mission," but 
on reaching the field he found his fellow-workers 
opposed to the Baptists and, unable to fraternize 
with them, he resolved to join his own brethren. 
Physical, mental, and spiritual endowments fitted 
him for a great work in Brazil. He entered into 
it with hope and enthusiasm and was especially 
successful in winning the affection and interest of 



240 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B, CONVENTION 

the young men, whose training for usefuhiess he 
had so much at heart. Only a few months of 
service were permitted to him, for in February, 
1899, he fell a victim to yellow fever. 

Two other workers already on the field were 
welcomed into the Baptist mission in 1898. They 
were Misses Stenger and Wilcox, who went out to 
Brazil in 1 896, hoping to conduct a self-supporting 
school and still have time for missionary work. 
After spending a year in Noa Friburgo they 
moved to Bello Horizonte, the new capital of the 
State of Minas Geraes, where a better opening 
offered. Here, at her own expense, Miss Wilcox 
erected a home and school building. They found 
school work subject to many vicissitudes. While 
the people believed that no schools were superior 
to the American schools, they objected to any Prot- 
estant teaching. The young ladies finding them- 
selves unable to accomplish what they had hoped, 
desired to receive appointment from the Board. 
They were highly recommended by the mission- 
aries on the field, who were anxious to have them 
as co-workers. School work has never engaged 
much of the missionaries' time ; but a member of 
the Bahia Church, a rich coffee planter, proposed 
to Mrs. Taylor, herself an experienced teacher, 
that she open a school, offering ^5,000 toward its 
equipment. Other members added $2,000, and 
she was authorized to send for the best school fur- 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 24 1 

niture. An old inquisition building was refitted 
for school purposes, and in the spring of 1 898 the 
school was formally opened. Many of the best 
people of the city, prominent educators, and repre- 
sentatives of the State were present. The gov- 
ernor sent a band of twenty-five musicians, and 
the oration was delivered by the leader of the 
house of representatives. The school opened in 
May with eleven pupils and closed in December 
with seventy. 

Mrs. Taylor does not believe in free education 
in mission schools and from the first took a very 
decided position against it, though she makes 
some concessions to very poor Christians and uses 
her own judgment in occasionally giving instruc- 
tion free. Her school is making excellent prog- 
ress and is highly esteemed throughout the city. 
The urgent need of a young woman to assist Mrs. 
Taylor and have charge of kindergarten work was 
met by the arrival of Miss Alyne Goolsby in the 
spring of 1900. She was well prepared for her 
work, having taught for several years in different 
mission schools in Indian Territory, and having 
spent a year in the Baptist Missionary Training 
School in Chicago. She entered upon her work 
at once, teaching through an interpreter and win- 
ning her way to the hearts of the missionaries by 
her interest and enthusiasm. 

The winter of 1899 brought to the Pernambuco 

Q 



242 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

mission a welcome addition in Mr, and Mrs. J. E. 
Hamilton, and thus fulfilled the long-deferred 
hopes of those patient and faithful missionaries, 
Mr. and Mrs. Entzminger. Though the year had 
been one of great trial from ill health, persecution, 
and the absence in the United States of Mr. and 
Mrs. Nelson, it had been one of the best years in 
the history of- the mission. There was an increase 
in the membership of something over a hundred 
and the contributions from four of the little 
churches aggregated a little less than a thousand 
dollars. A church of thirty members was organ- 
ized in the interior of the State of Pernambuco, 
on a farm. The owner of the farm brought bricks 
from a distance of a quarter of a mile on his head 
and built a large hall at the side of his house 
which he dedicated to the worship of God. 

Persecution did not cease with this year. In 
the spring of 1900 a band of more than two hun- 
dred armed men went to attack a company of 
twenty men, women, and children, who were gath- 
ered for religious worship at night in the city 
town of Bom Jardim, about eighty miles from Per- 
nambuco. Their avowed purpose was to kill the 
preacher and all his adherents in the town. As 
they were ready to assault the house they saw 
another company approaching, and, supposing 
them to be more worshipers, fired on them. They 
really were another band of persecutors. As a 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 243 

result of the mistake several were killed and a 
number wounded. During the confusion the peo- 
ple in the house fled by a back door and escaped 
to the hills. Four were captured, imprisoned, 
and beaten, to persuade them to testify that the 
Christians did the killing. Others were forced to 
become fugitives for a time. The governor, the 
son of a Jesuit, was appealed to, but gave no pro- 
tection. The priests, in pulpit and press, recom- 
mended the wiping out of Protestants and Protes- 
tantism, " including that ancient people now called 
Baptists." The fires of persecution, however, 
only served to kindle a flame of greater zeal among 
the Christians, and a few months later a church 
of thirty-four members was organized. 

On the return of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Taylor and 
Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Downing, in the spring of 
1899, they were enabled to realize long-cherished 
desires and open a mission in the city of Sao 
Paulo. By the middle of June a neat preaching 
hall had been fitted up. A month later a church 
of eighteen members was organized, and the work 
started with great promise. Misses Stenger and 
Wilcox removed here and opened a small indus- 
trial school, thus affording an opportunity to reach 
families who were unwilling to attend religious 
service. After a year in Sao Paulo they resigned 
from the work and returned home. The Santa 
Barbara mission, among the American colonists. 



244 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

passed from the Rio mission to the Sao Paulo 
mission, and is kept up by monthly visits from 
the missionaries of the latter place. This field 
comprises several groups of Americans too much 
scattered to have one place of worship. There 
were five stations among them, one for people 
speaking Portuguese. 

All the churches in Brazil are represented as 
being in fine working order. Before Mr. Gins- 
burg's removal to Pernambuco and during a tem- 
porary absence from Campos, the churches in that 
field met and organized an Association at which no 
foreign missionary was present. Mr. Ginsburg 
regarded it as proof that the Brazilian Christians 
were beginning to work for themselves. During 
the year 1900 four of the missionaries met in Rio 
and decided that on the first of January, 1901, 
there should be opened in Rio, under the manage- 
ment of Mr. Entzminger, a publication work, con- 
sisting of a journal and tract and book depart- 
ment, to supply the Brazilian missions with litera- 
ture. It was also agreed to take monthly col- 
lections in all the native churches for this object. 
On the tenth of January, 1901, the first issue of 
the new paper appeared, with the title " O Jornal 
Baptista " (*' The Baptist Journal "). It is printed 
on good paper, with clear type and attractive illus- 
trations, and presents a fine appearance. 

Rev. F. F. Soren, a native Brazilian, who had 



THE BRAZILIAN MISSION 245 

been for several years in this country attending 
William Jewell College and the Southern Baptist 
Theological Seminary, returned to Brazil in Octo- 
ber, 1900, and was chosen pastor of the church in 
Rio de Janeiro. A theological training school has 
been opened in Sao Paulo, and Rev. J. J. Taylor, 
who has charge of this school, is embarrassed by 
the number of young men clamoring for an oppor- 
tunity to study for the ministry. Confident that 
the Lord will provide, he will not turn any away, 
but promises to provide food, lodging, and books 
for these eager students. Mr. and Mrs. A. L. 
Dunstan and Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Deter were wel- 
comed to the mission in the summer of 190 1. 

Brazil is the most fruitful field under the aus- 
pices of the Southern Baptist Convention. One 
of the last countries entered, it already has the 
largest constituency of any except China. Though 
there are still trials and difficulties and discourage- 
ments, the missionaries feel that the outlook is 
an inspiration to increased effort. Churches are 
being organized, baptisms are frequent, there is a 
determined effort toward self-support, and the be- 
neficent, transforming power of the gospel is every- 
where felt. There is still much seed-sowing to be 
done, but the harvest time has begun and is re- 
joicing the hearts of those who have waited in 
faith for the verification of the promise, " My 
word shall not return unto me void." 



XI 

THE MEXICAN MISSION 

MEXICO, though one of the most recent fields 
entered by Southern Baptists, has from the 
first enlisted their deepest sympathy and interest. 
When, in 1880, the Convention decided to open 
work in this republic, there were already several 
Baptist churches in existence. One of these, or- 
ganized by Elder James Hickey, at Monterey, 
January 13, 1864, was the first evangelical church 
in the republic. It was composed of five mem- 
bers, three of whom were baptized on the day of 
organization. One of these, T. M. Westrup, had 
been preaching nearly a year, and by Elder Rick- 
ey's advice was chosen pastor and ordained to the 
ministry. Within a year eighteen were added to 
the church by baptism. In 1880, Rev. John O. 
Westrup, a brother, of T. M. Westrup, who had 
been supported in Mexico for some months by 
brethren in Texas, was accepted as a missionary of 
the Board and stationed at Musquiz, in the State 
of Coahuila. On December 21, while visiting the 
five or six little scattered churches, he was brutally 
murdered by a band of Indians and Mexicans. 
246 



I 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 247 

Rev. W. M. Flournoy was appointed as the succes- 
sor of Mr. Westrup, and in November, 1881, was 
ordained by authority of the church at Laredo, 
Texas. He was accepted by the Foreign Mission 
Board on condition that means for his support 
should be raised in Texas. Mr. Flournoy had a 
fair knowledge of the Spanish language and was 
well posted in Baptist affairs. He located in 
Progresso, where Mrs. Flournoy opened a school 
supported by the Woman's Missionary Union of 
Texas. She was very successful and her school 
rapidly increased in numbers. A school for boys 
was opened later, and in the two instruction was 
given to more than a hundred pupils. Mr. Flour- 
noy's field embraced a large territory, in which he 
preached regularly and distributed many tracts and 
portions of the Scriptures, this work involving con- 
stant traveling. The law of the land afforded the 
missionary every facility, and no obstacle was 
thrown in his way except by the priesthood. The 
people were ready to listen but hard to make un- 
derstand the falsity of Romish teaching. 

Rev. W. D. Powell and Miss Anna J . Mayberry, 
Mrs. Powell's sister, received their appointment to 
Mexico in May, 1882, and entered upon their work 
in Saltillo the following autumn. Mr. Powell had 
been a Sunday-school missionary in Texas for sev- 
eral years and was widely and favorably known. 
He had traveled in Mexico and was somewhat famil- 



248 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

iar with the language, character, and needs of the 
people. Saltillo, a city of about twenty-five thou- 
sand inhabitants, is beautifully situated forty-five 
hundred feet above the sea level. The climate is 
perpetual spring. A commodious house in the cen- 
ter of the city was secured, and Mr. Powell began 
preaching through an interpreter. Mrs. Powell 
and Miss Mayberry, being experienced teachers, 
entered at once into school work. They also en- 
gaged in house to house visiting among the women, 
this proving an effectual way of reaching a priest- 
ridden class. Mr. Powell's report for the year 
1884 was gratifying. A church had been organ- 
ized and fifty-two persons were received to mem- 
bership, most of them by experience and bap- 
tism. A deep religious interest pervaded the con- 
gregation in Saltillo and baptisms were frequent. 
Hundreds of Bibles and Testaments were sold 
and given away. El Heraldo Mexicano^ the first 
Baptist newspaper published in Mexico, proved a 
success. It was issued by Mr. Powell, with Signor 
Cardenas, a Mexican, as joint-editor and proprie- 
tor. This paper had a much larger circulation 
than the combined membership of the Baptist 
churches in Mexico, and was a great help in car- 
rying gospel truth into the homes of the people. 

The next forward step in the Mexican Mission 
was the establishment of the Madero Institute at 
Saltillo. Mr. Powell had won the esteem and 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 249 

friendship of Governor Madero, of Coahuila, who 
offered him, in behalf the State, several pieces of 
valuable property for the establishment of schools 
in Saltillo, Parras, and Patos, cities of Coahuila. 
The conditions of the contract raised the question 
of the Baptist doctrine of the separation of Church 
and State, and the corresponding secretary of the 
Board was sent to Mexico to adjust the matter 
more satisfactorily. A constitution was substi- 
tuted for the contract, under which was organ- 
ized a Board of trustees, who received by pur- 
chase, lease, and gifts from individuals the prop- 
erty offered, together with valuable property for 
the church, in conformity with a provision of the 
constitution to the effect that no property shall 
ever be received as a gift from any civil govern- 
ment. The constitution and by-laws of the insti- 
tute provided for scholastic departments, primary, 
academic, and normal, for the education of young 
women, and a boarding department for orphan 
girls and other pupils. The scholastic exercises 
might be opened with Scripture reading and 
prayer, but should not include the teaching of 
any particularly Baptist tenets. Good order, pure 
morals, and perfect freedom of conscience in mat- 
ters of religion w^ere to be preserved. 

A quadrangular building, one hundred and fifty 
by two hundred feet, one story high, with court, 
fountain, and arcade in the center, and a plaza ad- 



250 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

joining, was purchased for the institute. The 
building was thoroughly renovated and furnished, 
and a library neatly fitted up for the reception of 
a thousand-dollar donation of books from Mr. Wil- 
liam Bucknell, of Philadelphia. The school was 
opened in October, 1884, and during the year sev- 
enty pupils were enrolled, forty of whom were 
boarders. As February first was the beginning of 
the school year, it was formally opened at that 
time, a number of Baptists from the United States 
being present. Signer Jose M. Cardenas was 
chosen principal. Mrs. M. E. Graves, of Texas, 
was prevailed on to accept the position of matron, 
and entered upon her duties in February, 1885. 

Other missionaries joined the workers in Sal- 
tillo: Miss Addie Barton in July, 1884 ; Mr. and 
Mrs. F. M. Meyers in November ; and Miss M. C. 
Tupper, a daughter of the corresponding secre- 
tary, in December. Mr. and Mrs. Meyers, with 
Miss Mayberry to assist them, located in Patos, 
where a church had been organized. Less than a 
year of service was permitted to Mrs. Meyers ; 
her health failing rapidly she returned to her 
home in Kentucky, where she died in November, 
1885. The first Mexican Baptist Association 
was organized in Saltillo on December 12, 1884. 
Eight churches, with an aggregate membership of 
one hundred and fifty, were represented. There 
were eighteen delegates in attendance and several 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 25 I 

visiting brethren, including the corresponding sec- 
retary of the Board. On Sunday evening Jose 
Gonzalez was ordained to the work of the minis- 
try, and the day following he, with two other 
brethren, was appointed a missionary under the 
new organization. Seven hundred dollars was 
raised for the support of two missionaries, the 
third being employed only during his vacation. 

Another forward step in the Mexican Mission 
was the purchase by the Foreign Mission Board 
of an unfinished temple or cathedral in Saltillo, 
to be reconstructed into a church house. At the 
formal opening of the Madero Institute the cor- 
ner-stone of the new church was laid, and those 
present contributed ;^ 1,400 toward its erection. 
Finished and dedicated it formed a convenient 
church home for the Baptists of Saltillo. 

Mr. and Mrs. Flournoy having removed to the 
Rio Grande district, they labored there faithfully 
and successfully, a part of the time among the 
Indians in El Macimento, the Mexican Indian 
reservation. Mr. Flournoy was peculiarly adapted 
for this frontier work, being bold, hardy, and well 
acquainted with Indian character and history. It 
was a hard field, the amalgamation of races, Afri- 
can, Indian, and Mexican, causing such a mixture 
of language that it was difficult for the people to 
understand either English or Spanish. The death 
of Isaac Wilson, the recognized leader of the Mus- 



252 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

cogee congregation and the most intelligent man 
among them, was a serious blow to the progress 
of the work. Mr. Flournoy had expended much 
time in instructing him, and through him the 
others were reached. Some progress was made 
among the children, nearly fifty of whom were 
gathered in Sunday and day schools; but in 1885 
Mr. and Mrs. Flournoy resigned from the service 
of the Board. 

The year 1886 witnessed many changes in the 
mission. Miss Tupper, after a long and dangerous 
illness, was forced to return to her home in Vir- 
ginia, and it was not thought advisable for her 
again to take up work in Mexico. Rev. H. P. 
McCormick, who had entered the field in the sum- 
mer of 1886, had acquired a sufficient knowledge 
of the language to be able to take some of Miss 
Tupper's classes in the institute during her illness. 
In December he was married to Miss Annie P. 
Perry, of Marion, Ala., and removed to Zacatecas, 
there to open a new station, with Miss Barton as 
assistant. The State of Zacatecas is more noted 
for its mines than any other in the republic, and 
contains the important city of Zacatecas, which 
is the capital, with a population of thirty thou- 
sand. The neighboring State of Aguas Calientes, 
in which Mr. McCormick also expected to labor, 
presented an inviting field. A church was soon 
constituted, as several members of the Saltillo 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 253 

church lived in Zacatecas, and a Sunday and day 
school were organized. A church of twenty-seven 
members was reported in 1888, but as the work 
prospered the antagonism of fanatical Romanists 
was aroused. At a station six miles from Zaca- 
tecas Mr. McCormick was attacked with stones on 
three successive evenings, the window panes of 
the house were broken, and it was necessary to 
have police protection. 

In response to an urgent appeal for help from 
Mr. Powell, Rev. D. A. Wilson removed with his 
family to Mexico in March, 1886. At this time 
he had no appointment from the Board, but after 
conference with some of its members during the 
Convention in May, he was commissioned as a 
missionary of the Southern Baptist Convention. 
After acquiring some knowledge of the language 
in Saltillo he removed to Patos, where Misses 
Barton and Tupper had established a flourishing 
school, and where a comfortable church building 
had been completed and dedicated. Some months 
later he was sent to open a mission in the wealthy 
and beautiful city of Guadalajara, called, because 
of its rapid material development, the Chicago of 
Mexico. About fifty persons were present at his 
first public service and a number listened at the 
windows. It was Mr. Wilson's privilege to admin- 
ister the first Christian baptism ever seen in the 
city. Before his arrival the name and doctrines 



2 54 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

of Baptists were unknown, and on every side 
people were questioning who they were and what 
they believed. 

A wonderful field for mission work was opened 
to Mr. Powell on the ranches and haciendas and 
he eagerly entered it. Several years earlier Ed- 
ward Lara, an old man of large possessions, was 
instructed in the gospel by Mr. Powell, who was 
teaching his son. Thirty years previously the old 
man had become mnch interested in the Bible, a 
copy of which had fallen into his hands. He in- 
vited Mr. Powell to visit his ranches and preach 
to the people. The result of this invitation was 
the baptism of Lara and a number of others and 
the organization of two churches known as San 
Rafael and San Joaquin. Mr. Powell also received 
a request from Mr. Bustamente, ex-governor of 
San Luis Potosi, to visit his ranches and haciendas 
that, the missionary said, covered a territory equal 
to the State of Tennessee. He also issued an 
order directing overseers and employees to render 
every assistance and attend to every want of the 
missionary and charge the expense to his account. 
This was an unprecedented opening into a large 
territory where ignorance, superstition, and vice 
reigned supreme. 

The year 1888 witnessed a large increase of 
missionaries in Mexico and the occupation of sev- 
eral new stations. Mr. H. R. Moseley was, in 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 255 

August, 1888, sent to Saltillo to take charge of 
the church, Madero Institute, and Zaragoza Insti- 
tute. The latter institution was a school organized 
for the education of young men for the ministry 
and was supported largely by the gifts of a good 
deacon in Virginia. Mr. Moseley also conducted a 
correspondence school for the benefit of native 
ministers who could not leave their work to attend 
school. He established, in connection with this 
school, theological institutes, which were held at 
convenient times and places. Another efficient 
worker was added to the mission by Mr. Moseley's 
marriage to Miss Etna Olliphant, of Mobile, Ala., 
in December following. Miss Lucia C. Cabaniss 
was also added to the corps of teachers in the 
institute. 

Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Rudd and Miss Sarah Hale 
were sent to take charge of the work in the Parras 
district, where two churches had been organized. 
They made their home in Parras, a town of be- 
tween ten and fifteen thousand inhabitants, about 
fifteen miles from one of the great railroads con- 
necting Texas with the city of Mexico. In the 
summer of 1888 Rev. J. G. Chastain, of Missis- 
sippi, and Miss Lillian Wright, of Virginia, were 
appointed to Mexico. Miss Wright had been 
patiently awaiting her appointment for three years 
and during that time willingness had been suc- 
ceeded by desire, and then by intense longing, to 



256 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

spend her life in mission work. She met Mr, 
Chastain on the way to Mexico, acquaintance 
ripened into a strong attachment, and before the 
close of the year they were married and located in 
Matehuala. Eight churches, with one hundred and 
thirty-two members, had been organized in the 
Matehuala district, which though in the Coahuila 
mission, was in the State of San Luis Potosi. 
Between it and the other fields of Coahuila lay a 
high range of mountains, and this subjected the 
missionaries to much loneliness and isolation. 
Miss Fannie Russell, a gifted and earnest woman, 
was appointed to assist Mr. Wilson at Guadalajara, 
but after a few months of service she was com- 
pelled by ill health to resign from the service of 
the Board. The Rio Grande district was put in 
charge of Rev. A. C. Watkins, who with his wife, 
arrived in Musquiz in January, 1889. In the sum- 
mer of the same year, Mrs. Janie R Duggan, a 
granddaughter of Dr. James B. Taylor, the first 
secretary of the Foreign Mission Board, and one 
to whom Baptist and missionary principles were an 
inheritance, was appointed by the Board, and be- 
gan her work as teacher in Madero Institute. 

The early years of the decade beginning with 
1890 were years of harvesting as well as seed-sow- 
ing. Mr. Wilson's faithful work at Guadalajara 
was bearing fruit. In 1891 his church numbered 
thirty-six members, but though his efforts were 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 25/ 

being blessed and he had acquired more perfect 
Spanish than any of the other missionaries, he felt 
that he needed fuller preparation for his life-work 
and requested to be allowed to return to the 
United States to prosecute his studies. Mr. and 
Mrs. P. H. Goldsmith, of South Carolina, were ac- 
cepted by the Board in 1890, and were sent to 
Guadalajara with Mrs. Duggan and Miss Barton to 
assist them. At Zacatecas Mr. McCormick was 
not idle nor unsuccessful. His field was dotted 
with churches, at San Miguel, Colotlan, San Juan 
de Guadalupe, Zacatecas, and Aguas Calientes. 
The last named was turned over to the American 
Baptist Home Mission Society of New York, as it 
was contiguous to its work. Such exchanges were 
frequently effected by the Baptist Boards of the 
North and South with mutual advantage. Large 
quantities of tracts and Testaments were distrib- 
uted and many subscribers secured for the Baptist 
periodical, ^^ La Lnz'' The church at Zacatecas, 
numbering twenty-seven members, contributed 
^112 for home and foreign missions. Just as his 
earnest appeals for a church building had been 
answered and the edifice was completed, Mr. Mc- 
Cormick was compelled to lay down his work in 
Zacatecas and seek a location better suited to the 
health of his devoted wife. In Rev. A. B. Rudd, 
who then had charge of ten churches in the Parras 
district, he found an able and willing successor. 

R 



258 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

The teaching force at the Madero Institute was, in 
1 89 1, enlarged by the arrival of Miss Alta Smelser, 
Miss S. A. Cook, and Miss Lillian McDavid. 
Under the dual principalship of Mr. Moseley and 
Miss McDavid the school increased in popularity. 
The girls were bright, interesting, apt to learn, 
and the teachers found very little difference in re- 
ceptivity between them and the girls of the United 
States. This was true of many whose fathers and 
mothers could neither read nor write. 

The year 1892 witnessed the consolidation of 
the missions of the Southern Baptist Convention 
under the name of the Mexican Mission. With 
the new organization there were several changes of 
location. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson returned to 
Mexico and located in Silao, a railroad center in 
the State of Guanajuato. Mr. and Mrs. I. N. 
Steeiman were accepted by the Board and opened 
work in Orizaba in the State of Vera Cruz. Mr. 
and Mrs. Chastain removed from the preoccupied 
field of Matehuala to Doctor Arroyo in the State 
of Nuevo Leon. Mr. and Mrs. Powell removed to 
Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico. Mr. 
Powell became a general evangelist visiting all the 
missions and preaching at stations not belonging 
to any of them. Miss Mayberry also removed to 
Toluca, and there on October ninth, 1892, during 
the absence of Mr. and Mrs. Powell in the States, 
the Master called her to himself. 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 259 

At Guadalajara Mr. Goldsmith slowly gained a 
foothold. He visited every town of importance in 
the State and distributed Bibles and tracts. The 
house occupied by the missionary family in Guada- 
lajara was built as the residence of a Roman Catho- 
lic canon and one of the rooms still bore traces of 
the oratory, with its niches for saints and the 
gilded pinnacles for the altar molded into the wall. 
There was much poverty as well as great wealth 
in the city, the members of the Baptist church 
being usually dependent upon the thirty or forty 
cents they made daily for their livelihood. Mrs. 
Duggan, in visiting the homes of the people and 
talking with them by the wayside, said she did not 
find them as a whole hungering and thirsting for a 
new religion. She found them happy and content 
with their own, and they often pitied her because 
she did not believe in the influence of the " Mother 
of God." A very intelligent old man who had 
been reading the Bible for her sake said to her: 
" Senoritay you believe one way and I another. 
When I was a child in school, they taught me the 
catechism and afterward I read and learned all 
the articles of our faith. The faith of your fathers 
is your faith, and that of mine is mine, and I am 
willing to die by it." A bright young woman who 
could not read, but knew everything about the 
Virgin Mary except the truth, said to Mrs. Dug- 
gan one day : '' I also know that Jesus is the only 



260 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Saviour and that he gave his precious blood for us, 
but I can get so much nearer to him through his 
mother. She will present my case to him better 
than I can. Oh, would you have me give up my 
Mary Mother ? " Guadalajara is said to be, next 
to Puebla, the most fanatical city of the republic. 
There are hundreds of priests, beautiful churches, 
and many Roman Catholic schools and colleges. 

An interesting incident of the year, 1892, was 
the ordination of a full-blooded Mexican, Alexandre 
Trevino, to the full work of the gospel ministry. 
Mr. Trevino came on with Mr. Powell to the meet- 
ing of the Convention held in Atlanta, and it was 
thought best to have the ordination service there, 
as it would be difficult to assemble a presbytery at 
his church, Patos, Baptist ministers in Mexico 
being few and widely scattered. The very thorough 
examination conducted by the presbytery was en- 
tirely satisfactory and on May 25, he was ordained 
in the First Baptist Church, Doctors McDonald, 
Hawthorne, and J. William Jones taking part in 
the service. Mr. Trevino returned to Mexico the 
day following, leaving the impression that if he was 
a fair specimen of the native helper their increase 
an hundred-fold would be a great blessing to the 
work. For several years the Association of the 
Baptist churches of Coahuila had been collecting a 
fund to send a missionary from Mexico to some 
other papal field, but as the right man had not ap- 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 26 1 

peared, the Association, meeting in Parras in 
November, 1 892, decided to leave it to the Foreign 
Mission Board to select a native worker in Brazil 
as the missionary of the Association to be sus- 
tained by their prayers and supported by their 
funds. This was their celebration of the Carey cen- 
tennial. 

Loss and gain among the missionaries in Mexico 
during the year 1893 were equal. Mrs. Duggan 
found herself compelled by broken health to return 
to the United States and finally to abandon all 
thought of resuming work in Mexico, and Miss 
Smelser was also compelled for the same reason to 
retire from the mission. The number of mission- 
aries was not decreased, for two efficient workers 
were added to the force. Rev. Marion Gassaway in 
August and Miss Ida Hayes in October. Miss 
Hayes, being an experienced teacher, became one 
of the faculty of Madero Institute. Mr. Gassaway 
after a brief stay in Saltillo, in January, 1 894, took 
charge of the work in Zacatecas, Mr. Rudd having 
accepted the position of director in Madero Insti- 
tute. Mr. Moseley had resigned this position to 
devote himself more fully to pastoral and evangel- 
istic work. 

The session of the institute beginning February, 
1894, opened encouragingly with seventy-six ma- 
triculates, of whom forty-six were boarders. Though 
the director and two of the teachers were new to 



262 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

the work, there was an earnest effort toward yet 
greater success than had been attained in previous 
years. In the Saltillo church, of which Mr. Mose- 
ley was pastor, there was a steady growth in num- 
bers and liberahty. During the year 1894 he was 
blessed with an unusual number of conversions, but 
his joy over the success that crowned his labors 
was suddenly turned to sorrow because those 
labors must come to a speedy close. He had 
written a very strong anti-Romanist tract entitled, 
"Three Centuries of Romanism in Mexico." A 
copy of the tract, which was published by the 
Maryland Baptist Mission Rooms, was sent to 
Saltillo, and mistranslated was used to enrage the 
people against him. On the charge of having 
written this tract he was imprisoned, and only 
liberated through the efforts of Messrs. Powell and 
Rudd and the United States consul and consul- 
general. Feeling was so intense against Mr. 
Moseley that his life was endangered and it was 
deemed best for him to leave Mexico. The mis- 
sion thus lost two of its most consecrated and de- 
voted workers. 

By the removal of Mr. Moseley the direction of 
affairs in the Saltillo mission was left entirely to 
Mr. Rudd, who was so occupied with the work in 
the city that he was unable to look after the out- 
side stations, which had been part of Mr. Mose- 
ley's charge. Late in the year Miss Hayes was 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 263 

elected associate principal of the institute and was 
able to relieve Mr. Rudd of much of the care and 
responsibility of the school. His burden of work 
was further lightened when the Saltillo church 
called a native pastor, Pablo Rodriguez. The idea 
of self-support had taken such strong hold on the 
church that it undertook the support of its pastor 
without help from the Board. This was a heavy 
strain on the members, but they wished to set an 
example in the matter of self-support, and it 
proved an impetus to other churches in the same 
direction. Mr. Watkins removed from Musquiz 
to Parras, and was thus enabled to take charge of 
the western part of the Saltillo field, uniting it 
with his former Musquiz field. In the spring of 
1894 Mr. and Mrs. Goldsmith retired from the 
mission, and Mr. and Mrs. Wilson resumed the 
charge of the work in Guadalajara, which they 
had given into Mr. Goldsmith's care several years 
previous. Miss Hale joined them, and was able to 
assist Mr. Wilson with the Sunday-school papers 
which he prepared for the Mexican schools. 

The year 1895 was one of steady progress. 
Feeling deeply the need of the Spirit's power, 
missionaries of all denominations gathered in To- 
luca in April for a conference on the Holy Spirit, 
which was arranged by Doctor Powell. The influ- 
ence of the meeting was felt even among those of 
the workers who were not able to attend. The 



264 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

idea of self-support was enforced. Churches were 
urged to build their own houses of worship and 
sustain their own pastors, and in the Morelia mis- 
sion several brethren did good work evangelizing 
without compensation. In October Miss Cabaniss 
resigned from the service of the Board, and on 
December 12 the mission lost another faithful 
missionary by the death of Mr. Gassaway. He 
was consecrated and earnest and, though on the 
field scarcely more than two years, was doing effi- 
cient work. So impressed was he with the need 
of helpers that he offered to reduce his salary if 
he might thereby secure another. 

Amid the discouragements of slow spiritual 
growth on the part of the native Christians and 
stolid indifference to religious matters among the 
people generally, the missionaries yet found some 
cause for rejoicing. There was a very decided 
tendency on the part of all workers, both native 
and foreign, to look less to mere numbers and 
more to genuine conversions and real spirituality. 
The native ministry was of a higher grade than 
ever before, and the native workers showed a 
praiseworthy interest in the matter of mental 
preparation for their high and holy task. In the 
summer of 1896 a theological institute was held 
in Saltillo, in which Mr. Rudd had the assistance 
of Messrs- Chastain, Westrup, and Watkins. The 
mutual contact as well as the consecutive study 



THE MEXICAN MISSIOJT 265 

was of great benefit to those who attended, and to 
some it meant a new spiritual experience. In the 
Doctor Arroyo mission the work was never more 
encouraging. ** The field was white unto the 
harvest, but for lack of workers it was impossible 
to enter all the open doors." In the Morelia mis- 
sion the missionary's heart was encouraged by 
marked and growing evidences of spirituality among 
the brethren, and especially by the growth in grace 
and power of a number of those who, though un- 
ordained and self-supporting, were preaching the 
word. The members of the churches were scat- 
tered over a wide territory, but in several places 
Sunday services were held with some regularity 
in private houses by these isolated Christian 
workers. There- was a notable decrease in hos- 
tility to the gospel, and many open enemies a year 
previous began reading the Scriptures and inquir- 
ing the way. One of the most hopeful signs of 
the work at Guadalajara was the increase of attend- 
ance at the Sunday morning service, especially of 
children. One of the most difficult problems with 
the native church-membership had always been the 
observance of the Lord's Day. 

Several changes marked the year 1896. Mr. 
and Mrs. Watkins removed to Torreon, where a 
faithful native brother had organized a small but 
earnest body of believers. Mr. and Mrs. Steel- 
man returned to the United States, and impaired 



266 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

health rendered Miss McDavid's return also im- 
perative. 

The year 1897 witnessed no marked advance in 
the work in Mexico. The restrictions that ham- 
pered Madero Institute were entirely removed, and 
it became in truth a Baptist mission school. Ten 
of the girls united with the church, and there was a 
marked increase of interest in spiritual things. It 
was the aim of the teachers, with God's help, to 
fortify these young Christians for the many and 
peculiar trials that awaited them in their Roman 
Catholic country. Mr. Wilson, one of the most 
faithful and efficient of missionaries, felt com- 
pelled by a change of views on some doctrinal 
points to sever his connection with the Board. 
His church went with him, and the work of the 
Board in Guadalajara was suspended. 

The year 1898 was marked by sadder changes 
than any in the history of the mission. Serious 
trouble arose among the missionaries, and it 
seemed impossible to settle the difficulty to the 
satisfaction of all concerned. Mr. Powell, a pioneer 
in Mexican missions, tendered his resignation and 
returned to the United States. The mission lost 
some of its most consecrated and efficient mem- 
bers by the resignation of Mr. and Mrs. McCor- 
mick, Mr. and Mrs. Rudd, and Miss Ida Hayes. 
Madero Institute was closed, and the outlook for 
this field was very dark, although the appointment 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 26/ 

of Mr. and Mrs. R. P. Mahon and Mr. and Mrs. J. 
S. Cheavens shed a ray of brightness. As Miss 
Kate Savage, Mrs. Mahon had formerly held the 
position of matron in Madero Institute, and her 
knowledge of the language enabled her to begin 
work at once. After a brief stay at Torreon, that 
Mr. Mahon might learn something of the lan- 
guage, customs, and manners of the people, and 
also of the different departments of work, they 
removed to Toluca. Here a neat and comfortable 
chapel had been erected on one of the most popu- 
lar streets of the city. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cheavens located temporarily at 
Torreon, where Mr. Watkins had built up a most 
encouraging work. Torreon is a young, thrifty 
railroad city, which is growing rapidly. Factories 
are also being built, and the new population com- 
ing in from every direction was not so fanatical 
and opposed to the gospel as was that of the older 
and more conservative towns. Mr. Watkins was 
fortunate in securing a fine lot on the plaza at a 
very moderate price before property had greatly 
enhanced in value, and on this he erected a house 
of worship and a parsonage. The Board appro- 
priated ^600 for this property, and Mr. Watkins 
secured the remainder of the cost from other 
sources. After Mr. McCormick left Morelia it 
was deemed best for Mr. Chastain to move there 
and carry on the work so wisely and energetically 



268 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

begun, and he did this although he was loth to 
leave his own field of Doctor Arroyo, where the 
outlook was more encouraging than ever before. 
At Morelia he found two candidates awaiting bap- 
tism and many scattered members who were ex- 
tending the leaven of the gospel through the 
remote districts. He also found three organized 
churches, three ordained Aztec preachers, and as 
many unordained. All of these were untiring and 
efficient missionaries, who had never received one 
cent of salary from any Board. One of the 
churches had finished and dedicated a commo- 
dious chapel, and another provided its own preach- 
ing hall free of rent. 

Work among the Indians in the Torrid Zone 
moved forward with encouraging progress. Mr. 
Chastain visited this section once a year taking 
advantage of the coolest weather. In the city of 
Morelia the bitter opposition and fanaticism with 
which the missionaries had to contend, seemed to 
be subsiding, but the work was greatly retarded for 
lack of suitable mission buildings centrally located. 
Its numerous rich agricultural and stock ranches, 
with abundant water supply, and its enormous 
mineral wealth, render the State of Michoacan 
hardly second to any in the republic. Between 
Morelia and the Pacific coast, a distance of three 
hundred miles, there is no foreign missionary and 
the heralds of the cross should be pressing forward 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 269 

into this unoccupied territory that they may be 
able to lay hold of the fast-opening opportunities 
and use them for the advancement of the Re- 
deemer's kingdom. 

After acquiring some knowledge of the language 
and customs of the people, Mr. and Mrs. Cheavens 
removed from Torreon to Saltillo, in July, 1899, 
where Mr. Cheavens found some discouraging 
features connected with the work. The names 
of many non-residents and non-workers bur- 
dened the church roll and the real church-mem- 
bership was very small. Under his faithful efforts 
interest began to deepen and at this writing the 
outlook is more hopeful. In October, 1899, Miss 
Addie Barton returned to Saltillo and opened a 
day school and was gratified by a growing attend- 
ance. In the summer of 1899, three new mis- 
sionaries were appointed to Mexico, Mr. and Mrs. 
G. H. Crutcher, of Tennessee, and R. W. Hooker, 
of Mississippi. After a brief stay in Toluca to 
familiarize himself with the work, Mr. Hooker 
moved to Leon, where he is at this writing con- 
ducting a promising work in the face of bitter 
opposition. Having established himself at Leon, 
Mr. Hooker returned to Mississippi, where he was 
married to Miss Nelson, of Carrollton, on May 31, 
1900. 

Immediately after the adjournment of the Con- 
vention of 1900, the Board began to enlarge its 



270 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

work, in accordance with the decision of that body, 
and among the first appointments made were Mr. 
and Mrs. Frank Marrs, of Del Rio, Texas. Mr. 
Marrs had served the State Board of Texas for 
several years as a missionary in Del Rio, and was 
most highly recommended by those who knew 
him. He is located in Durango, where there is 
now a church of forty members. They are sub- 
ject to some petty persecution, but with it all, God 
is blessing the preaching of his truth and souls are 
being won for his kingdom. 

A most harmonious and delightful session of 
the Coahuila Baptist Association was held in Tor- 
reon in September, 1900. It was the seventeenth 
annual session and a greater number of messengers 
than usual were present. Sixty-six baptisms were 
reported and ;^207 was offered for missions. A 
missionary was appointed in the bounds of the 
Association and provision was made for his sup- 
port. The theological institute followed the Asso- 
ciation and continued for one week, with gratify- 
ing results. A dozen wide-awake, appreciative 
students listened with pleasure and profit to 
well-prepared lectures. A paper on the early his- 
tory of gospel work in Mexico created great en- 
thusiasm. The writer, Porfirio Rodriguez, had 
been a Baptist preacher for thirty years and was 
rich in reminiscences. Preaching services were 
held every night and as a result several candidates 



THE MEXICAN MISSION 2/1 

were received for baptism. A theological school 
has been opened in Torreon under the direction of 
Mr. Watkins, who has a native preacher, Rev. 
Jorge A. Berumen, assisting him. Mr. and Mrs. 
W. F. Hatchell joined the mission in the spring of 
1 90 1 and have taken charge of the work in Morelia, 
thus allowing Mr. Chastain to remove to Guada- 
lajara. 

No denomination reports any special ingather- 
ing or great awakening in the Mexican field. While 
the spirit of persecution is still active in some 
parts, yet in most places the indifference of the 
people is the greatest enemy of the gospel. In 
the Southern Baptist mission the outlook is more 
promising than for several years past. There are 
a number of missionaries on the field and a spirit 
of unity prevails. The mission has passed through 
a dark hour, but a brighter day has dawned, a day 
when the self-denying labors of her missionaries 
promise an hundred-fold. 



XII 

THE JAPANESE MISSION 

THE opening of Japan to Western commerce 
and civilization by Commodore Perry, in 1854, 
directed the attention of Southern Baptists to its 
need of the gospel and the Foreign Mission Board 
was requested to watch the providence of God as 
it pointed to that country as an important field of 
missionary effort. Three years passed before the 
Board felt that the time had come to enter Japan, 
but in i860, Mr. and Mrs. J. Q. A. Rohrer, and 
Messrs. C. H. Toy and J. L. Johnson were ap- 
pointed to enter that country. Mr. and Mrs. 
Rohrer were by piety, culture, and education emi- 
nently fitted for pioneer work in that progressive 
kingdom. They sailed from New York with Mr. 
and Mrs. Bond, who were bound for China, in the 
" Edwin Forest," but nothing was ever heard from 
the ship, and the fate of our missionaries will be 
shrouded in mystery until the sea gives up its 
dead. Messrs. Johnson and Toy expected soon 
to follow Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer, but the unsettled 
state of affairs incident to the breaking out of the 
Civil War prevented the Board from sending them. 
272 



THE JAPANESE MISSION 2/3 

For a number of years after the war the Board 
could only maintain the missions already estab- 
lished, and all attempt to enter Japan was aban- 
doned, though the hope was still cherished. 

The Convention of 1888 believed the time had 
come to establish a mission in Japan, and so 
instructed the Board. Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Brun- 
son, and Mr. and Mrs. J. W. McCoUum were 
accordingly appointed, and arrived in Novem- 
ber, 1889. They located temporarily at Kobe, 
where the American Baptist Missionary Union had 
a station, to begin the study of the language, and 
to become familiar with Japanese customs. With 
the advice and friendly aid of Doctor Mabie, of the 
Missionary Union, Osaka, a city of four hundred 
thousand inhabitants, was chosen as a permanent 
residence. The Missionary Union turned over its 
station in Osaka to the Foreign Mission Board, 
and our missionaries left to the Union the whole 
field of Kobe. The arrangement was entirely 
satisfactory to both parties. Mr. Brunson had a 
contract for a year in a government school in 
Kobe, but Mr. McCollum went at once to Osaka. 
The church was not organized, but there was a 
native evangelist, a man naturally well qualified for 
the ministry though not trained so far as Bible 
work was concerned, and a few believers, among 
whom were some very earnest people. In March, 
1 89 1, a church of fifteen members was constituted 

s 



274 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

and a mission school with an enrollment of forty- 
five was also established. 

The first two years were attended with many 
difficulties. The missionaries had little knowledge 
of the language or the country, and as in every 
new mission the work was slow and discouraging. 
Under stress of circumstances the missionaries 
left the great island of Niphon, on which Kobe 
and Osaka are situated, and went to Kokura, on 
the island of Kiushiu. The mission at Osaka was 
left to the fostering care of the American Baptist 
Missionary Union. The island of Kiushiu, at the 
southwestern extremity of the Japanese group of 
islands, had a population of nine millions. It was 
one of the most inviting fields in the empire, as 
well as one of the most destitute. New railroads, 
which rendered all parts of the island accessible, 
were being constructed. By means of these, to- 
gether with the numerous coasting vessels, one 
man could work over a large territory, at small 
cost, and with little loss of time. There was but 
one missionary on the western coast and there 
were many towns and villages in which the gospel 
had never been preached. The Roman Catholic 
Church had a large and growing constituency in 
the northern and eastern part of the island, but 
no Baptist mission had ever been established 
thereon, although some work had been done by a 
missionary of the Union living on one adjacent. 



THE JAPANESE MISSION 2/5 

By an agreement with the missionaries of the 
American Baptist Missionary Union, the island of 
Kiushiu was turned over to the Foreign Mission 
Board and the latter became responsible^ in a 
measure, for its evangelization. The mission 
opened up encouragingly, regular work was opened 
in three cities, and preaching services maintained. 
Inquirers were numerous and the first year wit- 
nessed twenty-six baptisms. 

In the summer of 1892 Mr. Brunson, acting 
under the impression that he had made a mistake 
in thinking himself called of God to be a mission- 
ary, resigned from the work. As a pioneer mis- 
sionary he had done excellent service and the Board, 
having no reason to doubt his fitness for the work, 
reluctantly accepted his resignation. He remained 
upon the field until the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. 
E. N. Walne, who sailed in September, 1892. 
The year following witnessed some changes in the 
arrangement of the force in Japan. Mr. McCol- 
lum removed to Moji, a new town on the strait of 
Shimonoseki. It is the terminus of a railroad, has 
a fine harbor, and a large trade in coal and rice. 
Mr. Walne located in Fukuoka, a city of one hun- 
dred thousand people, about forty miles from Moji 
and connected with it by railroad. 

In October the mission constituted its first 
church ; prior to that time all converts held their 
membership theoretically in a church founded by 



276 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

the Missionary Union. Mr. Kawakatsu, the best 
native ordained pastor the Baptists had in Japan, 
was kindly lent by the Missionary Union for a 
year to help in the work. An earnest, Christian 
gentleman and a safe adviser for young mission- 
aries, his assistance was of inestimable value. 
Through him as interpreter, Mr. Walne conducted 
a class in Bible study for some young evangelists. 
A day school was established under the supervi- 
sion of Mrs. McCollum, conducted by a young 
Christian woman, who also accompanied Mrs. Mc- 
Collum in her visits to the homes of the people. 
Mr. and Mrs. N. Maynard arrived in Japan in De- 
cember, 1894, a much-needed reinforcement, since 
it had become necessary for Mr. and Mrs. McCol- 
lum to return to America for rest and change. 

Many important events marked the year 1894. 
The vexed question of treaty revision had been an 
obstacle to the propagation of the gospel in Japan, 
and the hostile feeling growing out of the agita- 
tion of the question culminated in a fierce anti- 
foreign movement, that threatened for a time to 
sweep all before it. With the decadence of the 
old national faiths, patriotism had become the re- 
ligion of the Japanese. The subjects of those 
powers which refused to admit Japan into the 
family of nations were the objects of bitter hos- 
tility. This state of affairs was a serious disad- 
vantage to mission work. There were also diffi- 



THE JAPANESE MISSION . 2// 

culties about passports and smaller congregations 
and unusual activity among some of the Buddhist 
sects. During the year, however, the Japanese 
government succeeded in negotiating satisfactory 
treaties with England and the United States, and 
the anti-foreign movement became a thing of the 
past. These new treaties guaranteed to English 
and American subjects nearly all of the privileges 
enjoyed by natives, and though they did not go 
into effect until 1899, the government removed 
some of the most urgent passport restrictions and 
the whole country was open to the missionary. 

During the war with China the people were at 
times intensely excited, but mission work was not 
interfered with, all departments of it being main- 
tained as usual. The missionaries were permitted 
to visit the military hospital at Kokura and to dis- 
tribute Christian literature among the soldiers en 
roiLte to the seat of war. Detachments of soldiers 
who were quartered from time to time near mis- 
sion stations were brought under the influence of 
the gospel, and the missionaries enjoyed excep- 
tional opportunities for personal work. The com- 
manders offered no opposition to Christian work 
among the soldiers, and the colonel in charge of 
the troops at Fukuoka rendered the following tes- 
timony to the power of Christianity in the soldier's 
life. He said : '' Christianity makes a man a better 
soldier. He does not seem to fear death, and vet 



2/8 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

he does not rashly seek it. Whether on the battle- 
field, in the camp, in the barracks, or in the hos- 
pital, we know the Christian to be the bravest, the 
most orderly, the most patient." This was the 
testimony of a man who was not a Christian. 

The hopeful outlook for missionary work dark- 
ened with the success of the Japanese in this war, 
for, elated with victory, they became indifferent to 
Christianity. The millions yet untouched by the 
gospel were more bitterly opposed than ever to its 
propagation. The higher classes disdained, and 
the lower classes despised, not only the foreign 
missionary but Christianity, which they considered 
a foreign religion. With this and much more to 
discourage them, the missionaries were cheered by 
the willingness of Christians to work with the mis- 
sionary force and their effort to contribute more 
liberally toward the support of the work. Two 
gratifying evidences of the steady and sure growth 
of Christianity were the awakening of personality 
and the recognition of the fact that all true success 
has, as a basis, moral integrity. Hitherto per- 
sonal obligations were to a large extent merged 
into the family, the community, or the nation, but 
new avenues were opening and were inspiring 
young men to achieve personal success. Thought- 
ful minds were evolving the question, " How can 
I reform my life and aid in the moral reformation 
of the nation .? " 



i 



THE JAPANESE MISSION 279 

Early in 1896 Mr. and Mrs. McCollum removed 
to Fukuoka, the capital of the province and prob- 
ably the largest city on the island. Mr. and Mrs. 
Walne located in Nagasaki, where the outlook 
seemed bright. They were destined to meet 
many discouragements and disappointments, and 
two years passed without tangible results. Naga- 
saki is said to be the most conservative city in the 
empire, and, though mission work had been con- 
tinuously carried on there since the country was 
first opened up, less than a dozen natives of the 
city had been converted. The Christian commu- 
nity was composed of people who had come from 
other parts of the country. The commercial pros- 
perity of the port drew thither a large number 
of people from other sections, and'it was almost 
exclusively among these that the missionaries 
obtained a hearing. Mr. Walne conducted an 
encouraging work in a neighboring town, where 
there was a large naval station. Attentive con- 
gregations were present at every preaching service, 
and some always remained until late in the night 
to talk over what they had heard. It was difficult 
to estimate the results of work in such a place, for 
the sailors were always coming and going, but at 
least the people were most willing to hear and 
some were ready to study the Bible. Mr. and 
Mrs. Maynard, at Kokura, were greatly blessed in 
their efforts to reach the people in their immediate 



280 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

vicinity. Their Sunday-school numbered from 
thirty-five to forty, and, with her knitting classes, 
composed of the larger girls and several women, 
Mrs. Maynard hoped to accomplish some good. 
An hour was spent in Bible study and in reading 
some good book, while Christian books and tracts 
were lent the girls to read at their homes. The 
services were well attended, many hearing the 
gospel, but few taking a decided stand. 

The year 1898 witnessed some remarkable 
changes in Japan, and none more important in its 
bearing on the future than that of the gradual 
change of front in reference to Christianity. This 
was noticeable in the newspapers, which had hith- 
erto welcomed and published with pleasure articles 
abusive of missionaries. Christians, and Christian 
teaching. Two of the leading dailies, published 
at Tokio, time and again urged, as the only hope 
for the reformation of Japan, the adoption of 
Christian ethics. A few of the leading statesmen 
voiced sentiments which could be construed in 
no other way than as favorable to Christianity. 
The wide proclamation of the gospel and the diffu- 
sion of Christian literature, tracts, and periodicals 
had more or less influenced the reading and think- 
ing Japanese public. The missionaries were ac- 
corded a respectful, though often a cold hearing, 
and a desire to know something about the truths 
of Christianity was manifest. Buddhist forces 



THE JAPANESE MISSION 28 1 

were on the alert to withstand this growing senti- 
ment. Their periodicals were full of appeals to 
the people to prove themselves loyal to the faith 
of their fathers, and no opportunity was lost to 
warn the people against the encroaching influences 
of Christianity. That Buddhism would stubbornly 
contest the ground was evidenced by the renova- 
tion of Buddhist temples, the organization of 
schools for the better training and equipping of 
Buddhist priests, together with lecture courses by 
noted Buddhists, mass meetings in the interest of 
Buddhism in the large cities, and extended tours 
of inspection by influential priests. 

Meanwhile there was unusual activity among 
the Christians, and never before had so ardent a 
desire for the salvation of the lost been manifested. 
^' Prayers that pleaded for the manifestation of the 
Spirit's power, hand to hand work with those who 
would hear, a larger view as to the provision of 
the gospel, together with the gradual obliteration 
of class distinction," said Mr. McCollum, ''are 
some of the evidences that Christ is being en- 
throned in the hearts of his followers." With the 
opening of the year 1899 ^^^ Japan Mission re- 
ceived a welcome addition in the person of Rev. 
W. Harvey Clark, of Georgia, whose father had 
been years before a missionary of the Board in 
Africa. A few months later the mission rejoiced 
over the addition of another worker, Miss Lucile 



282 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Daniel, also of Georgia, who went out with Mr. 
and Mrs. Walne on their return to Japan, and 
who, on her arrival, was married to Mr. Clark. 
Mr. and Mrs. George F. Hambleton sailed for 
Japan early in 1901, thus increasing the mis- 
sionary force to ten workers. Two churches have 
been constitued, there are ninety church-members, 
nine out-stations are maintained, and eight native 
assistants are employed. 

The growth of the work in Japan is slow, for 
material prosperity has blinded the people to their 
spiritual need. There is much to discourage the 
missionary, as he has to contend with indifference, 
infidelity, and immorality, but he is not disheart- 
ened nor dismayed, for he has the Master's own 
word of promise, ** And I, if I be lifted up, will 
draw all men unto me." 



XIII 

HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 

THE providence of God assigned to the Home 
Mission Board a field vast in extent, impor- 
tant in its relations, and in many sections exceed- 
ingly destitute of gospel privileges. It included 
fourteen States with an aggregate area of nine 
hundred and fifty-five thousand six hundred and 
sixty-four square miles and a population of about 
eight millions. In these States there were two 
thousand ministers connected with the Baptist de- 
nomination to serve this vast multitude. These 
were very unequally distributed. Some sections 
had more than needful, while others were en- 
tirely destitute, many of the white population 
of mature age having never heard the gospel. 
Responsibility for this region fell upon the Home 
Mission Board, and was accepted, its first care 
being for the native white population. Although 
applications were received for appointments in the 
free States, the Board deemed it expedient to con- 
fine its labors within slave-holding States, and 
found that this chosen field demanded all its 
energy and resources. 

283 



284 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Changes in the officers of the Board, insufficient 
means, and ignorance of the real needs of the 
field greatly hampered its first efforts. Six mis- 
sionaries were under appointment when the first 
annual report was presented. Rev. A. B. Smith, of 
Richmond, Va. ; Rev. John Tucker, in Florida, 
the only ordained minister in an area of four hun- 
dred and fifty miles ; Mr. Van Hoose, in Selma, 
Ala. ; Rev. I. T. Hinton, pastor of the First Baptist 
Church, in New Orleans, La. ; and James Huck- 
ins and William Tryon, in Texas. The two last 
named were engaged in soliciting funds for the 
erection of church buildings on their fields, Gal- 
veston and Houston. Rev. John Tucker, in Flor- 
ida, gave most interesting accounts of his work.^ 

That work has always consisted very largely in 
aiding weak churches in the support of pastors 
and assisting in the erection of church buildings. 
Within the year closing April, 1849, ten churches 
released the Board from further appropriations 

1 Within a few months he traveled 1,300 miles, visited 80 fam- 
ilies, baptized about 20, and had 4 meeting-houses finished in 
as many settlements. With the aid of a pastor from Georgia, 
lately removed to Florida, he constituted 5 churches, thus mak- 
ing 6 organized churches within his circuit. He preached in 
20 settlements, but his stations were so widely separated that it 
required about 30 days to make the circuit. A gradual but 
steady growth marked the three succeeding years. The number 
of missionaries increased from 6 to 57, 1,246 baptisms were re- 
ported, 29 churches were constituted, 8 church edifices built, and 
16 churches begun. 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 285 

and, principally by the agency of its missionaries, 
two local Associations and one State Convention 
were formed. During the following years (1850- 
185 1) several new missions were opened, among 
them one at Brownsville, Texas, a thriving town 
less- than three years old, with a population of 
about four thousand, and at that time the great 
gateway into Mexico. Rev. J. H. Wombwell, a 
Virginian by birth, but at this time in Florida, 
was chosen for this work, in which his success 
was very marked. 

The importance of evangelizing the cities was 
from the. beginning recognized and emphasized by 
the Board, and strenuous effort was made toward 
securing this result. In 1853 twenty cities of the 
South and Southwest, from Wheeling, W. Va,, to 
Tampa, Fla., and from St. Louis, Mo., to Houston, 
Tex., were stations of the Home Mission Board or 
contained churches under its fostering care. It is 
an interesting fact that in every capital city of the 
South, with the exception of Frankfort, Ky., the 
Home Mission Board has at some time carried on 
work either by establishing stations or aiding strug- 
gling churches. The city of Washington was 
early recognized as a center of national influence, 
and the Board stretched out a helping hand to aid 
the First Church which, in 1853, became self-sus- 
taining. The Board was then enabled to render 
assistance to a newly organized church under the 



286 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

care of Rev. T. C. Teasdale. The rapidly grow- 
ing city of Atlanta as the great railroad center 
for Georgia and other States naturally engaged 
the attention of the Board. In no city of the 
South have its efforts been crowned with such 
success. The cities of Florida also excited the 
interest of the Board, and efforts were made to es- 
tablish work in Key West, Tampa, and Tallahassee. 
Batesville and Helena, Ark., claimed its attention. 
There was no Baptist society at Helena, but a 
church was soon organized under circumstances 
of unusual interest. A minister visited the town, 
preached for several evenings in the courthouse, 
and many were awakened. Two men who had 
threatened each other's lives and were armed for 
an encounter, met in the place of worship. The 
Spirit of God touched their hearts. One asked 
for prayer, then sought out his enemy in the audi- 
ence and begged his forgiveness. They knelt to- 
gether and asked the forgiveness of God. A 
church was constituted, and fifty or sixty members 
were received and a house of worship was built. 

The Southern Baptist Convention regarded the 
city of New Orleans as of as great importance to 
the religious interests of the West as to its com- 
mercial interests, and in 1853 directed the Home 
Board to occupy it at whatever cost or sacrifice. 
Prior to 1853 the Board had endeavored to open 
work and had secured the services of Rev. J. E. 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 28/ 

Dawson. Illness compelled him to resign after 
a few weeks, but a beginning had been made. 
Preaching services on the Sabbath were continued, 
a Sunday-school was organized, and a weekly 
prayer meeting was established. The Board made 
earnest efforts to carry out the instructions of the 
Convention, but no man was found willing to ac- 
cept appointment. Toward the close of the year 
1853 the First Church rented a hall over a railway 
station in which to conduct services. Rev. Wil- 
liam C. Duncan was employed to supply the pul- 
pit, and the Home Board was asked to aid in his 
support. This church had been organized through 
the efforts of Rev. Russell Holman in 1843. Mr. 
Holman had been sent out by the American Bap- 
tist Home Mission Society, of New York, to re- 
vive the almost extinct Baptist interest in New 
Orleans. He being a missionary, Rev. I. T. Hin- 
ton was chosen pastor. This church, although 
the offspring of missionary enterprise on the part 
of the whole country, felt it its duty to align it- 
self with the Baptists south of the Potomac, and 
accordingly sent delegates to the Convention of 
1845. In July, 1854, while Mr. Duncan was serv- 
ing the First Church, a new church was organized 
with the view of occupying the edifice being 
erected with the legacy of Cornelius Paulding, 
whose name is inalienably associated with the 
Baptist cause in New Orleans, supplemented by 



288 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

the gifts of sister churches. Mr. Duncan was 
asked to supply the pulpit of this new organiza- 
tion, known as the Coliseum Place Church. His 
efforts were greatly blessed, and within a month 
forty persons were received, thirteen by baptism. 
A Sunday-school was organized which, before the 
close of the year, numbered one hundred and sev- 
enteen scholars. The schoolrooms were neatly 
fitted up with books and maps costing over ;^200. 
The new Coliseum Place Church, which was 
approaching completion, was situated in the very 
center of the American part of New Orleans, in 
what was considered an admirable location. The 
structure was well proportioned and commodious, 
and at the time no church in the city and few in 
the South could equal it as a place of worship. 
The church was sufficiently well established in 
1855 to decline further assistance from the Board 
in the support of its pastor, only requesting aid in 
finishing the building, the main auditorium being 
urgently needed. Two years later the building- 
was finished, but it was heavily encumbered with 
debt. The Board made strenuous efforts to pay 
off this indebtedness, but it was not until i860 
that the mortgage was removed. The church and 
the treasurer of the Board of Trustees assumed 
the unpaid balance and the Board was relieved of 
further responsibility. Before this debt was can- 
celed the financial depression incident to the Civil 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 289 

War overtook the country. Assets which had 
been accepted as cash were worthless and the 
church was unable to meet its obligations. To 
prevent the loss of the property it became neces- 
sary for the Convention to take a mortgage on it. 
It was then transferred to the Board in full title. 

During the summer of 1853-1854, a terrible epi- 
demic of yellow fever swept over parts of Georgia, 
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, 
and Arkansas. Dismay and dread possessed all 
hearts, for death held undisputed sway. The work 
of the Board was retarded by the prevalence of 
the epidemic, though the receipts and disburse- 
ments were considerably augmented. The Board 
did not regard these providential hindrances a 
sufficient cause for abandoning the mission sta- 
tions, but rather looked upon them as a voice 
from heaven urging to more energetic endeavors. 
Several missionaries remained at their posts, 
preaching Christ and ministering to the sick and 
dying. Rev. A. S. Morrall remained in Darien, 
Ga., during the whole of this distressing time and 
baptized one hundred and sixteen converts. 

The tide of emigration had borne to California 
so many united by ties of blood with Southern 
Baptists that a strong desire was at length awak- 
ened to send missionaries among the Americans 
in that State. Generous contributions were made 
to the Board for this purpose. The General As- 



290 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

sociation of East Tennessee, which heretofore had 
been restricted from aiding in any missionary 
enterprise beyond its borders, removed that re- 
striction and subscribed over ^300 for California. 
The Convention instructed the Home Board to 
enter the field, but no man was found willing to say 
" Here am I, send me." After the lapse of more 
than a year, in 1855, E. J. Willis, a young lawyer 
of fine talents and education, a Southerner by 
birth, was converted, entered the ministry, and was 
strongly recommended to the Board as a suitable 
missionary for Oakland City. Duty seemed to 
demand Mr. Willis' return to Virginia, after an 
earnest pastorate of a few months. Rev. J. L. 
Shuck, in connection with his work among the 
Chinese, accepted the pastorate of the Baptist 
church in Sacramento, which was said to be the 
largest in the State. Throughout the year i860, 
he was employed as a general missionary for the 
State, his labors being highly prized. A large num- 
ber of churches were organized through his agency, 
and many scattered Baptists were brought into 
church relations and made useful to the cause. 

October 23, 1858, Rev. C. N. West, who had 
been preaching in Sierra Nevada Valley, organized 
a church of seven members at Santa Cruz, a town 
of some commercial importance situated in a beau- 
tiful valley and having a population of about two 
thousand. He also maintained a station at Soquel, 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 29 1 

a town of two or three hundred people, five miles 
from Santa Cruz. Two young men, Rev. G. E. 
Davis and Rev. J. B. Hopps, who had been trav^ 
ersing the San Ramon Valley hunting up scattered 
Baptists and ministering to their spiritual needs, 
were appointed missionaries of the Board, so that 
in 1859 there were five Americans at work in be- 
half of the Board in California. Mr. Shuck re- 
signed his position as a general missionary on 
January i, 1861, and returned to South Carolina. 
Owing to the pressure upon the treasury of the 
Board, and the fear that the receipts would not be 
sufficient to maintain all its missionaries, a system 
of retrenchment was forced upon it which com- 
pelled the relinquishment of the California mission 
at the close of i860. 

Several churches under the fostering care of 
the Board had received within the year numbers 
and pecuniary strength sufficient to maintain 
themselves, and in 1857 relieved the Board of fur- 
ther obligation. Among the number were Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn., Hannibal, Mo., and Fayetteville, 
Ark. Texas, where so much of the sympathy and 
aid of the Board had been expended, had developed 
a large Baptist membership and an efficient minis- 
try. Though needing aid she had raised within 
the year ^3,000 for Home Missions. 

A spirit of progress was manifest in the Con- 
vention of 1859. F'^yQ hundred delegates were in 



292 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

attendance at Richmond, the largest number that 
up to that time had ever assembled. The Home 
Board reported an increase of funds and one hun- 
dred and four missionaries in its employ. Every 
Southern and Southwestern State, the Indian Ter- 
ritory, and California were occupied. A new era 
of promise seemed to be dawning on Southern 
Baptists, but already the war cloud was gathering 
and before the meeting of the next Convention 
the land was shrouded in gloom. The work of the 
Board in its domestic and Indian departments was 
practically suspended, but the importance of work 
in the Confederate army was recognized. The 
Board determined to enter at once upon army mis- 
sions and direct its attention to the camps and 
hospitals. Appeals for aid in this work met with 
sympathy and co-operation and commissions were 
issued to a number of consecrated, intelligent 
ministers. In 1863 twenty-six army missionaries 
were in its employ. Those who have not only 
studied the facts but judge from personal observa- 
tion, state that the world has never seen, since 
apostolic times, more general or more powerful 
revivals than were witnessed in the Confederate 
army, and that there was never a mission field that 
yielded richer harvest to the faithful laborers. It 
is said that the old sneer, " an army is a school of 
vice " was changed into the blessed reality that 
the Confederate army was a school of Christ. 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 293 

The missionary's plan of operation was an elas- 
tic one, to meet the diverse needs of army life. 
Sometimes he accompanied regiments or brigades 
on long marches, preaching as opportunity offered ; 
sometimes he moved from camp to camp, talking 
with the men, holding meetings for prayer and ex- 
hortation, and distributing Testaments, tracts, and 
religious newspapers. Sometimes within the walls 
of strong and defiant forts he pointed men to Him 
who alone was their fortress and their deliverer. 
Though large numbers of books, tracts, and re- 
ligious newspapers were put in circulation, the sup- 
ply was not equal to the demand. There was a 
great thirst for reading among the soldiers, even 
among those who did not care for it at home where 
they had other means of communication and en- 
tertainment. A missionary visiting a hospital in 
Mobile announced as he entered a ward that he 
had procured a few Testaments for distribution. 
The patients, regardless of pain and weakness 
scrambled toward him in their desire to obtain the 
prize. An endeavor was made to place a copy of 
the Scriptures in the hands of every soldier in the 
Confederate army. It was estimated that nearly 
one hundred and fifty thousand men were con- 
verted during the progress of the war, and it was 
believed that fully one-third of the soldiers in the 
field were praying men and members of some 
branch of the Christian church. 



294 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

In this great work of soul-saving and ministry 
the missionaries of the Home Board performed no 
insignificant part. Among them were found such 
distinguished men as I. T. Tichenor, E. W. War- 
ren, J. Wm. Jones, J. B. Hawthorne, Russel Hol- 
man, W. C. Buck, A. D. Sears, J. J. D. Renfroe, 
A. E. Dickinson, J. L. Reynolds, and John A. 
Broadus. How nobly the churches responded to 
the demands made by the Home Board is evi- 
denced by the twentieth annual report, closing 
April, 1865, which stated that the work of the 
Board had been increased beyond any year since 
its organization. The spirit of liberality had 
never been more manifest. No appeal had been 
made in vain and many had been responded to 
with unusual generosity. Seventy-eight army mis- 
sionaries had been employed by the Board and the 
salaries of eleven chaplains had been supplemented 
to enable them to remain at their posts. Though 
the year closed with many causes for gratitude the 
outlook was gloomy. The hopes of the people 
were disappointed, ruin and desolation were every- 
where, and exhausted finances gave scant promise 
of any speedy aid for the Board. 

Kentucky was the first State to extend a help- 
ing hand, and the secretary of the Board, Doctor 
Sumner, was invited by the General Association 
to come and solicit funds for the work of the 
Board. In about six weeks ;^ 10,000 was secured, 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 295 

and the note there sounded found an echo in many 
States, notably Maryland, Missouri, and Texas. 
With the funds thus collected some of the most im- 
portant points in the older States were enabled to 
regain their independence, and in many instances 
the subsequent prosperity of these churches was 
due, in no small measure to the timely aid afforded 
by the Board. 

So much money and labor had been expended 
by the Board in New Orleans that a deep interest 
was felt in the events which had taken place there 
since the property had been transferred to the 
Board in 1863. In the summer of that year Rev. 
J. W. Horton, a representative of the American 
Baptist Home Mission Society, visited New Or- 
leans, as he said to look after Baptist interests. 
The Coliseum Place Church did not desire his 
services and was unwilling to surrender the house 
to him. He obtained a military order from Gen- 
eral Bowen, provost marshal, and thus forcibly 
obtained possession. Only five out of about sixty- 
five members then in the city continued to wor- 
ship in the house under the new administration. 
Rev. Russell Holman was sent to New Orleans 
in December, 1865, ^^ see if it was practicable 
to recover the property and to take the neces- 
sary steps to accomplish it. After various requi- 
sitions had been complied with an order was 
issued for the restoration of the property, and 



296 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

on March 12, 1866, the keys were dehvered in 
due form. At the commencement of the war 
the church numbered one hundred and eighty 
members ; when Doctor Holman endeavored to 
gather the scaitered flock only fifty-five could be 
found, and these were in humble circumstances. 
A heavy debt hung over the church, and the Board 
was obliged to mortgage the property in order to 
provide for it, and for a number of years could do 
nothing more than carry the mortgage. 

The Board rapidly regained its footing, and in 
1866 fifty-three missionaries were in its employ 
and were at work in every Southern State except 
Maryland and Louisiana. Encouraged by success 
and anticipating a more prosperous year, the Board 
enlarged its work until one hundred and twenty- 
four missionaries were employed. Hopes of pros- 
perity were not realized. Yet greater financial 
depression awaited the country, and retrenchment 
or a steadily increasing debt were the alternatives 
that confronted the Board. Its missionaries were 
reduced in number until in 1869, they numbered 
only twenty-six. The darkest period in the history 
of the Board continued from 1868 to 1882, reach- 
ing its lowest point from 1875 to 1879. It alter- 
nated between retrenchment and enlargement until 
an ever-increasing debt rendered a steady reduc- 
tion of expenses necessary. The need confronting 
it on every side led it to hail every promise of in- 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 297 

creased contributions and endeavor to extend its 
work only to find the promise unfulfilled. A noble 
instance of self-sacrifice is recorded during this 
time. A heavy debt encumbered the Board and it 
was unable to meet its liabilities. In order that 
the burden might be lightened, an old missionary 
suggested that all should donate the balance due 
them, or as much as possible to the Board. Though 
themselves oppressed with poverty there was 
prompt response to the suggestion.' 

The fearful epidemic that swept over the South- 
west in the autumn of 1878 was another severe 
blow to the Home Mission Board. Contributions 
from the stricken districts were not only cut off, 
but the benevolence of other sections was severely 
taxed to meet the needs of the desolated section. 
Dr. N. W. Wilson, pastor of the Coliseum Place 
Church, fell at his post, and many another noble 
man faced danger and death out of loyalty to the 
Lord Christ. A light was cast athwart the cloud 
which shadowed the Southwest by the sympathy 

1 The twenty-fifth annual report of the Home Board, presented 
to the Convention of 1870, reviewed the history of a quarter of a 
century and stated that 1,189 commissions had been issued to 
missionaries and evangehsts, 268 churches constituted, and 
18,598 persons baptized. The Board continued its poHcy of re- 
trenchment until in 1876 fewer missionaries were employed and 
less work done than for many years previous. Two years later 
all debts to missionaries of former years had been paid with the 
exception of three, of whom nothing could be learned. 



298 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

and generosity manifested toward it by our coun- 
try and the world. Tlie year following (1879) 
brought health, a fruitful season, and an improved 
financial outlook to all the industries of the South ; 
but the receipts of the Board were still inadequate 
to supply the wide and necessitous field committed 
to its care. It was, however, relieved of the burden 
of debt and was widening its sphere and pressing 
forward into the regions beyond. There was an 
increased interest in the work of home evangeliza- 
tion ; State Boards multiplied, enlarged their ope- 
rations, and divided the funds expended upon the 
home field, though the larger part was turned into 
their own treasury. These State Mission Boards 
were a direct outgrowth of the work of the Home 
Mission Board, and it rendered valuable service by 
its agency in their creation. In some States these 
local organizations have been so efficient as to re- 
lieve the Board of any further responsibility for 
their evangelization. 

At its meeting in 1881 the attention of the 
Convention was called to the fact that New Or- 
leans was rapidly growing in commercial impor- 
tance, and that Baptists were making but little 
effort to promulgate the truth in that city. There 
was at this time only one self-sustaining white 
Baptist church in New Orleans. The organization 
of the First Church had been preserved and en- 
joyed the services of Rev. M. C. Cole, who was 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 299 

maintained in part by the Mission Board of the 
Mississippi Convention. The church had no house 
of worship but held services in a building rented 
by the Mississippi Convention. The Southern 
Baptist Convention instructed the Board to send 
two or more competent and efficient missionaries 
to New Orleans as soon as practicable. Cor- 
respondence was opened with the Coliseum Place 
Church preparatory to inaugurating mission work 
in the city. The church was found to be strug- 
gling under a burden of debt. The property was 
mortgaged and the church was unable to pay ac- 
cruing interest and at the same time meet current 
expenses. It requested that the Board begin its 
work by aiding in the support of a pastor. The 
large amount already invested in this interest, its 
value as a center of missionary operations, and the 
importance of retaining the advantages already 
gained, led the Board to render the needed aid. 
A joint and unanimous call was extended by the 
church and the Board to Sylvanus Landrum, d. d., 
to become pastor of the church and missionary of 
the Board. He entered upon his duties Decem- 
ber 10, 1 88 1, supported by a band of consecrated, 
self-denying men and women. 

By the combined efforts of the church and the 
Board the debt was greatly reduced and in 1885 
it was paid. The church no longer required aid 
from the Board but entered upon an aggressive 



300 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

missionary campaign in another part of the city. 
A Chinese Sunday-school was opened and two in- 
dustrial schools established in different locations. 
A lot in that part of the city called Carrollton was 
given to the church and Doctor Landrum secured 
the erection of a small house upon it and organized 
a Sunday-school and an industrial school. In 1884 
the Board purchased a building for the First 
Church, which under the pastoral care of Rev. M. 
C. Cole was steadidly growing and developing into 
an active and efficient body of Christians. The 
Valance Street Mission was a result of the efforts 
of the First Church and was located about a mile 
away. A lot was purchased on which to erect a 
house of worship which was greatly needed as the 
rented rooms were filled to overflowing. There 
were enough Baptists in the vicinity to constitute 
a church and it was thought that with a house of 
worship a permanent center of influence could soon 
be established in that section of the city. An in- 
dustrial school, a Sunday-school, and a prayer 
meeting were established and in January, 1885, 
Rev. O. F. Gregory was appointed to take charge 
of the mission. Another industrial school was es- 
tablished in connection with the First Church and 
these two schools numbered about five hundred 
pupils. They proved an efficient means of open- 
ing the homes to the missionaries and of bringing 
the children, and often the grown people of the 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 3OI 

household, to Sunday-school and to the services of 
the church. Miss Emma J. Gardner and Miss 
Maitie Cole were employed as missionaries in New 
Orleans and as teachers in the industrial schools. 
Their devotion to the work was crowned with 
gratifying success. 

The removal of the Home Board, in 1882, from 
Marion, Ala., to Atlanta, Ga., marked a new era 
of progress and prosperity, and the dawn of deeper 
interest and sympathy in the hearts of South- 
ern Baptists. The corresponding secretary was 
greatly encouraged by his visits to Conventions and 
Associations, every State visited agreeing to do 
more than ever before for the Board. The Board 
was in active co-operation with the State Boards of 
Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, 
and with the Boards of both the State Convention 
and General Association of Texas. Its relations with 
all the State Boards were most cordial. The Board 
was encouraged to enlarge its work, Florida, Lou- 
isiana, and Texas especially claiming its benefi- 
cence. The Convention expressed the desire that 
the Board should confine its mission work to those 
States unable to meet the demands of their own 
destitution. In accordance with this desire ap- 
pointments in the older States where effective 
organizations existed, with one exception, were not 
renewed, while in the more destitute States they 
were increased. The General Association of Mis- 



302 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION. 

sonri resolved to support a missionary in New 
Orleans through the Board, and in conjunction 
with the State Board of Tennessee a mission was 
established in Memphis. This growing city had 
been so impoverished by yellow fever that the 
Baptist cause, always weak, greatly needed aid. 
There were few more important points for mission 
work. Missionaries to the number of one hundred 
and forty-four were employed by the Board, who 
baptized into fellowship of the churches, two thou- 
sand six hundred and sixty-five. In all its history 
the labors of its missionaries had never been more 
effective in advancing the Redeemer's kingdom. 

In its report to the Convention of 1883, the 
Board called attention to the new communities in 
Florida, Texas, and other States, which needed 
homes of worship and stated that the missionaries 
could do little permanent work without such 
houses for the churches they gathered. New set- 
tlers often exhaust their means in constructing 
houses for themselves and preparing for the busi- 
ness of life and have little left to give toward 
church buildings. A little aid from the Board 
would often stimulate them to successful effort. A 
fund for this purpose would facilitate the establish- 
ment of permanent and self-supporting churches 
in many destitute places and was of the greatest 
importance to the success of home mission work. 
The Convention authorized the Board to raise a 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 303 

fund for church-building purposes from which, 
either by gift or loan, it would be able to aid in 
the construction of houses of worship. Knowing 
the extent of the territory and the difficulties to be 
encountered in introducing a new enterprise, the 
Board divided the field into two sections, the 
Southern States lying East of the Mississippi 
River constituting one division, and those west of 
the river the other. The services of Rev. G. A. 
Nunnally were secured as secretary of the eastern 
division and he entered upon his duties November 
I, 1883. The success of this movement exceeded 
the expectations of the Board. The secretary 
visited all the State Conventions and many of the 
district Associations and presented the work to a 
number of churches. *' The movement was fully 
endorsed and enthusiastically sustained at all these 
meetings." Everywhere Doctor Nunnally met 
with gratifying success. In many towns and 
growing centers lots were secured, sometimes by 
the generosity of the landowners, sometimes by 
purchase, and sometimes valuable lots were ten- 
dered upon condition that neat churches be erected 
upon them within a given time. The phenome- 
nal success of this work gave rise to the fear 
that it would overshadow other departments of 
mission work. The desire having been expressed 
by leading brethren, some of whom were in charge 
of State Boards, that money for church-building 



304 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

should not be raised by appeals to the churches, 
as is usually done for missions, but that the meth- 
ods used in raising endowments for our colleges 
should be adopted, the Board acceded to this 
plan. Doctor Nunnally resigned and the depart- 
ment was discontinued. Arrangements were ef- 
fected with the State Boards of Florida and the 
Board of the General Association of Texas by which 
certain sums of money were to be expended for 
church building in those States. These sums were 
to be loaned to churches on easy terms and were 
designed to be the beginning of a permanent fund 
for church building in those States. By this policy 
the Board hoped to bring itself into closer alliance 
with the State Boards and thus secure more inti- 
mate knowledge of the field, and the co-operation 
of these Boards in rendering more certain the prompt 
return of the sums loaned to the churches of the 
State. 

The fortieth Annual Report of the Home Board, 
presented to the Convention of 1885, was the best 
it had ever made. In reviewing the past years of 
its history it was learned that forty thousand per- 
sons had been baptized by its missionaries. Some 
of the strongest and most efficient churches in the 
South, it was shown, had once been mission stations 
of the Board. The building up of churches in the 
cities was only a small part of the work accom- 
plished ; from the efforts put forth on the frontier 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 305 

whole Associations of flourishing churches had 
sprung into existence, which had become centers 
of influence for the regions around and beyond. 
During the year 1884, more missionaries had been 
employed and more work done than ever before. 

The important work which the Board has car- 
ried on in the mountain region extending from 
Virginia to Alabama was inaugurated in 1885. 
The majority of the people in this section were 
either Baptists, or were under Baptist influence, 
but they had meager opportunities for intellectual 
or spiritual culture and were for the most part very 
poor. Their claims as brethren as well as the future 
of the denomination demanded that the Board 
should extend a helping hand. In co-operation 
with the Convention of that section the Board sup- 
ported twelve missionaries in western North Caro- 
lina and the result of their efforts was very en- 
couraging. This section of the State was rapidly 
assuming importance. Railroads were being con- 
structed, sources of wealth were being discovered, 
and health resorts were being opened. New cen- 
ters of influence demanded the establishment of 
new churches and the erection of new houses of 
worship. The Baptists outnumbered all other de- 
nominations on this field and it was said that 
three-fourths of the land in western North Caro- 
lina belonged to members of Baptist churches. 

The Board was co-operating with the State Board 

u 



306 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

of Arkansas in endeavoring to supply the demand 
of that needy and promising field. The forty 
thousand Baptists scattered over the State needed 
to be unified and organized for work. Of her 
seventy-five counties, the county seats of twenty- 
five had no Baptist church and no house of wor- 
ship, and among the others there was scarcely a 
church strong enough to support a pastor. 

During the year 1885 the Board reported 
$20,000 raised and expended for church-building. 
In addition to forty-nine churches built on mission 
fields, a church was erected for the Valance Street 
mission and a home bought for the new Locust 
Street interest in New Orleans, and two churches 
in Georgia and one in Virginia were aided in se- 
curing houses of worship. Though much had 
been accomplished in forty years, the work to be 
done was three-fold greater than when the founda- 
tion of the Convention was laid. In 1845 the 
population of the southern States numbered seven 
millions, in 1886 they numbered twenty-two mil- 
lions. The years 1885-86 witnessed an extension 
of the work of the Board beyond any previous 
year in its history, an extension to which the 
women's societies lent generous aid. 

Work in the mountain region was enlarged in 
1887 by the appointment of Rev. F. C. McConnell 
to labor in the mountains of North Georgia. Born 
and reared among this people, Mr. McConnell was 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 307 

admirably adapted for such a mission. Success at- 
tended his efforts in founding schools and holding 
theological institutes. At these institutes instruc- 
tion was given in the leading doctrines of the 
Bible, in parliamentary practice, and in sermon- 
making. Mr. McConnell continued in this work 
until 1893, when he was elected assistant corre- 
sponding secretary of the Home Mission Board. 
Mission work in Florida made steady progress and 
under the guidance of Rev. W. N. Chaudoin the 
Baptists moved forward to possess the State. 
Church buildings were greatly needed and during 
the years i8Sy-S8, the Board made extraordinary 
efforts to supply the demand. In the erection of 
buildings ^10,000 was expended at different mis- 
sion stations in the State. In Texas also the 
work prospered, though a large area was still un- 
occupied and a population of four hundred and 
fifty thousand was destitute of gospel privileges. 
Oklahoma was opened for settlement in April, 
1889, and soon became an important field for 
home mission operations. These were needed 
and have been effective. 

The Home Board was under standing instruc- 
tions from the Convention to form and maintain 
the closest connection with the State Boards in 
such way as should be mutually agreeable and 
year by year the helpfulness of this co-operation 
was more clearly demonstrated. A review of the 



308 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

ten years since the reorganization of the Home 
Mission Board presented to the Convention of 
1892, amply demonstrated its right to a permanent 
place in the sympathy and interest of the denomi- 
nation. Within those ten years twice as much 
had been accomplished as in the whole thirty-seven 
of its previous history. Work on the frontier, in 
the mountains, and in the cities, continued to claim 
the interest of the Board. It aided weak churches in 
Washington, Nashville, Memphis, and New Or- 
leans. In the last, under the care of Dr. D. I. 
Purser at Valance St. Church and Rev. J. F. 
Purser at the First Church the cause was greatly 
strengthened and was never so encouraging, al- 
though the death of Dr. D. I. Purser by yellow 
fever in 1897 was a great loss. In some portions 
of the mountain district, as in north Georgia, 
eastern Kentucky, and western North Carolina, 
the year 1895 witnessed gratifying progress. 
Better preachers were demanded, houses of wor- 
ship were erected, schools were established, and 
the outlook betokened a bright future. Numbers 
among these mountaineers are Baptists by prefer- 
ence. They are not a reading people and their re- 
ligious ideas and convictions are not derived from 
promiscuous literature, but are based upon the 
teachings of the Bible. A sturdy, reliable folk, 
the growing development of the material resources 
of their region, and their eagerness for education. 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 3O9 

will make them, if rightly directed, a power in the 
affairs of the nation. 

In North Carolina the efforts of the Board have 
been signally blessed. Rev. John E. White, for a 
number of years corresponding secretary of the 
State Board, says that the great progress made 
by North Carolina since the war has been in no 
small degree effected by the timeliness and thor- 
oughness of the energy the Home Board brought 
to bear on the situation immediately after the war. 
The cause was prostrate, and it seemed impossible 
out of the wreck to restore the spirit of co-opera- 
tion and concerted effort in State missions. The 
Home Board, itself weak, came to the rescue, took 
hold of these mission stations, and maintained them 
until the State Board was able to regain its foot- 
ing. Another tribute to the work of the Home 
Board is paid by Rev. W. N. Chaudoin, corre- 
sponding secretary of the State Board of Florida. 
He thinks it questionable if there is a State in 
the Southern Baptist Convention that, considering 
population, time, and money spent, can show better 
results. Eighteen years ago there was not a re- 
spectable house of worship in a town or city in 
the State, certainly not one that would be so con- 
sidered now. At present there are few county 
towns without a church building, and probably not 
a county that has not a Baptist church organiza- 
tion. But best of all, he thinks, is the fact that 



310 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

the people are developing a broad, deep, conse- 
crated missionary spirit that embraces the whole 
work of missions and of Christian education. The 
testimony of Dr. J. B. Gambrell, corresponding 
secretary of the State Board of Texas, to the 
work of the Home Board is a strong one. He 
says the Baptists lead all other people in Texas, 
and this is to be credited to the constant help of the 
Home Board for more than fifty years. Doctor 
Gambrell thinks Texas will become the Imperial 
Baptist State of America by the continued aid of 
the Home Board, and in fifty years will do more 
for the spread of the gospel than all the South is 
now doing. 

Serious complications had arisen among the 
Baptists of Oklahoma, owing partly to doctrinal 
differences, but greatly increased and accentuated 
by the fact that two different Boards, the Ameri- 
can Baptist Home Mission Society and the Home 
Mission Board, were trying to occupy the same 
territory. So intense had the rivalry become that 
there were two Territorial Conventions. The 
work could not prosper in the midst of such fric- 
tion and bitterness, and an endeavor to bring the 
rival factions into harmony and co-operation be- 
came imperative. A committee of five from the 
Home Mission Society, five from the Home Mis- 
sion Board, and five from each of the Territorial 
Conventions, met in Oklahoma City in March, 



HOME MISSIONARY OPERATIONS 3II 

1900, to consider the best way of meeting and 
surmounting the difficulties. Plans were devised 
and heartily agreed to looking to the union of the 
two Conventions and the bringing of the brethren 
into harmonious relations. Later in the year, 
when the rival Conventions of the Territory met 
in joint session, the plans were ratified and unifi- 
cation was made an assured fact. The outlook is 
brighter now than for years past. 

The Home Mission Board has made vigorous 
and sustained efforts to meet the demands of the 
territory assigned to it, but the increasing needs 
of the field have more than kept pace with the 
increase of men and means to meet it. The un- 
evangelized part of the population of the South 
has in fifty years increased from less than three 
millions to four times that number. This fact 
appeals with measureless force for the steady and 
rapid extension of home mission work in every 
destitute section of the South. 



XIV 

MISSION WORK AMONG THE NEGROES 

THE religious welfare of the Negroes in the 
South had long enlisted in their behalf the 
interest and effort of Christian people. It was 
not strange, therefore, that when the Southern 
Baptist Convention was organized in 1845 the 
Board of Domestic Missions was directed ''to 
take all prudent measures for the instruction of 
the colored population," and that in the first ad- 
dress of that Convention to their brethren of the 
United States they said : '' We sympathize with 
the Macedonian cry from every part of the heathen 
world, with the low moan for spiritual aid of the 
four millions of half-stifled red men, our neighbors, 
with the sons of Ethiopia among us, stretching 
forth their hands of supplication for the gospel to 
God and to all his people." 

The committee appointed at the second meeting 
of the Convention in 1846 to consider this ques- 
tion, stated in its report that this department of 
Christian effort had been growing in interest and 
efficiency for several years. Many pastors had de- 
voted one sermon on each Sabbath to the benefit 

312 



MISSION WORK AMONG THE NEGROES 313 

of this class. In many churches the Negroes 
were instructed in the principles of Christian dis- 
cipline, and colored deacons were appointed to take 
the oversight of the colored members. Prayer 
meetings and Sabbath-schools for oral instruction 
were organized with happy effect. Dr. Robert Ry- 
land, for so long the successful president of Rich- 
mond College, was for many years pastor of the 
First African Church in Richmond, and had in his 
Sunday-school a band of trained teachers from the 
white church, which gave to the Negroes the use 
of their large and valuable house of worship. The 
committee, however, suggested that the domestic 
missionaries be instructed to endeavor to meet a 
demand not adequately met, and, in compliance 
with this suggestion, the Board reported to the 
Convention of 1849 that its missionaries had been 
directed to devote a portion of their time and 
service to the spiritual welfare of the Negroes 
within the range of their influence, and that two 
men had been appointed especially to minister to 
them. 

The missionaries met with encouragement, not 
only from the Negroes, who welcomed their visits 
and listened to them with pleasure and interest, 
but from their masters also, who not only con- 
sented to have meetings held on the plantations 
but solicited the holding of such meetings. Some 
of these became so awakened to the spiritual needs 



314 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

of their slaves that they erected houses of worship 
on their plantations, while others gave liberally to 
sustain the ministry among them. In most in- 
stances the Negroes had no churches of their own, 
but provision was made for them in the houses of 
worship of the whites, and those living in the 
neighborhood of the churches usually had access 
to all religious privileges. When practicable, mis- 
sionaries held separate services for slaves, and all 
bore favorable testimony to the transforming in- 
fluence of the gospel on the hearts and lives of the 
people. The work of carrying on missionary opera- 
tions among the Negroes, however, was a delicate 
and difficult one, and the Board realizing this, 
adopted the following plan. If any Association or 
church desired to have a mission among the Afri- 
cans, and was willing to raise an amount which 
would equal at least half the expense, the Board 
would, as far as it could, furnish the remainder, 
provided the mission was placed under the im- 
mediate supervision of an executive com.mittee of 
the Association or church, without whose nomina- 
tion no missionary should be appointed, and to 
which the missionary should report periodically as 
well as to the Board. Under this arrangement a 
mission was established in Baltimore, at the request 
of and with the co-operation of the Maryland Union 
Association. It was put in charge of Noah Davis, 
whose piety inspired confidence in his labors. 



MISSION WORK AMONG THE NEGROES 315 

Most of the missionaries in connection with their 
white charges ministered also to the Negroes, but 
the Board attempted to meet the needs of the 
more destitute sections by special missionaries. 
One of these was sent to the swamps of Mississippi, 
a section populated almost entirely by Negroes, 
many of whom had scarcely ever heard preaching. 
Efforts for the evangelization of the Negro were 
continued with undiminished interest until the 
breaking out of the Civil War. That these efforts 
were attended with blessing, the numbers of Bap- 
tists among the Negroes of the South at that time 
bear abundant testimony. According to attainable 
statistics there were, in i860, over four hundred 
thousand Baptists. It would not have been strange 
if, in the changed conditions following the Civil War, 
all attempts to evangelize the Negro had been 
abandoned. Yet during this exciting time the 
whites contributed largely to the repairing or 
building of Negro churches, and the pastors gen- 
erally stood ready to help them as far as their aid 
was acceptable. The Southern people could not 
forget the past with which the Negro was so closely 
associated, nor the dark days of civil strife when 
they were the only protectors of hundreds of homes. 
They owed a debt to the Negro, and soon after the 
close of hostilities, the white Baptists of the South 
set about its discharge. 

At the first meeting of the Convention, in 1866, 



3l6 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

after the emancipation of the slaves, a resolution 
was passed to the effect that in their changed re- 
lations the Convention recognized as heretofore its 
solemn obligation to give religious instruction to 
them by all those means which God has given for 
the salvation of men. So early as 1867 a large 
number of missionaries was employed by the Home 
Mission Board to labor among the freedmen, who 
seemed to prefer white missionaries. This prefer- 
ence was largely due to the fact that they readily 
recognized the competency of the whites to instruct 
them, and they equally recognized their need of 
good, sound theological instruction. Churches 
were constituted, the Negroes generally preferring 
to withdraw from their white brethren who, not 
only approved of it, but aided them in organizing 
separate bodies and in securing houses of worship. 
The year 1868 witnessed six hundred and eleven 
baptisms among them by the missionaries of the 
Board. 

A change came as the sense of freedom and in- 
dependence took deeper hold upon the Negroes 
and missionary work among them became more 
difficult. They became in a measure alienated 
from the white people, and former methods were 
no longer practicable. They were reluctant to have 
white preachers come among them, and only here 
and there could one have any influence. Mean- 
time other influences were at work. Houses were 



MISSION WORK AMONG THE NEGROES 317 

needed everywhere and the scanty means of the 
blacks were almost always inadequate to the task 
of building them. While the Negro was afraid of 
the organizations of the white people and shunned 
them, he was never afraid of his old master, nor 
of men whom he had known from the days of his 
boyhood. Thus it happens that while there is 
scarcely an instance on record in which a Negro 
church asked a white church for aid in building a 
house of worship, there is perhaps not a single one 
which has not been built largely by donations ob- 
tained by the Negro from his old friends. The 
feeling of antagonism slowly passed away as the 
Negroes realized that their white brethren were 
sincere in their desire to help them. 

Freedom awoke the slumbering ambition in the 
Negro race, and many became eager for an edu- 
cation. As their children learned to read and 
were gathered into Sunday-schools, they became 
anxious to supply them with libraries of useful 
and entertaining books, and they began to realize 
that if they would make steady progress they 
must have an educated ministry. Some effort 
had been made by missionaries to afford instruc- 
tion to men studying for the ministry, and the 
Board recognizing the need directed its appointees 
to furnish every facility to the Negroes within 
their fields of labor to acquire sound religious 
training. Several missionaries devoted their en- 



3l8 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

tire time to the religious improvement of the 
Negro, and the Board had in its service one of 
the most faithful and successful of the colored 
preachers, who did much to elevate their condition 
and to instruct them in sound doctrine.^ That 
the old prejudice was wearing away was illustrated 
by the fact that colored churches here and there 
solicited white ministers to take charge of their 
interests and preach regularly t)n the Sabbath. 
Official applications were received from Negro 
missionary organizations in the States for aid to 
sustain the work of evangelization among their 
people, and the churches began to call for minis- 
terial aid. The Home Board had long desired to 
take part in furnishing this aid, for it recognized 
that to meet the demand of the Negro pulpit 
young men of that race, whose piety and ability 
commended them, must be educated and trained 
for the gospel ministry. It was enabled to perfect 
an arrangement with the American Baptist Home 
Mission Society by which young men were ad- 
mitted to the Augusta Institute, at Augusta, Ga., 
with no other expense than that of the payment 
of board. Two young men were sent to the in- 
stitute under this arrangement. 

^ The service is here recognized in this work of the American 
Baptist Publication Society by the distribution of its literature, 
and of the American Baptist Home Mission Society by the estab- 
lishment of its Freedmen's schools. 



MISSION WORK AMONG THE NEGROES 319 

With wider experience the Board reahzed that 
the most speedy, effectual, and far-reaching method 
of benefiting the Negro race would be to hold 
institutes for the instruction of preachers at con- 
venient times and in accessible places. In this 
work resident pastors could render valuable assist- 
ance. After due consideration this new plan as- 
sumed definite shape. The Board reported to the 
Convention of 1879 an agreement for co-opera- 
tion with the American Baptist Home Mission 
Society to the extent that the society should ap- 
point a superintendent of missions among the col- 
ored people, whose duty would be to organize in- 
stitutes at such times and places as might be 
deemed practicable, to be conducted by the super- 
intendent with the assistance of those resident 
ministers whose services could be secured ; the 
Home Board aided in making and in carrying out 
these appointments, but incurred no expense. 

The Board considered the appointment of Rev. 
S. W. Marston for this work eminently wise, and 
commended him to the confidence and co-opera- 
tion of his brethren of both races. He began 
his labors in Marion, Ala., by conducting a minis- 
ter's institute, assisted by the president and corre- 
sponding secretary of the Home Board, and other 
ministers residing in the city. It was attended 
by a fair number of ministers and deacons, and 
the audiences were usually large and interested. 



320 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Rev. W. H. Robert, while in the service of the 
Board, continued this work during the following 
year, 1 879-1 880, holding institutes in various 
places in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Lou- 
isiana. 

The Home Board decided to concentrate its 
efforts on the instruction of the colored ministry, 
and endeavored to secure the co-operation of the 
State Boards and to procure a competent man to 
undertake the work in each of the States. In 
1883, in conjunction with the State Board of 
Georgia, it appointed Rev. W. H. Mcintosh to 
labor in that State as a theological instructor. 
He found abundant reason for encouragement 
during the first three months that he was on the 
field. More than a hundred ministers and dea- 
cons attended his lectures, unmistakably showing 
their interest in, and appreciation of, his work. 
Rev. G. R. McCall, who succeeded Doctor Mc- 
intosh, said that those whom he taught received 
oral instruction like hungry children, and were 
grateful, the most anxious being the most intel- 
ligent. In Florida, Rev. G. R Guild, almost with- 
out compensation, devoted himself to this work, 
for which he was eminently fitted and in which 
his heart was deeply interested. 

Other names inseparably linked with this work 
are B. F. Riley, and F. C. Plaister, Alabama ; 
S. Ball and H. W. Brown, Mississippi ; and Syl- 



MISSION WORK AMONG THE NEGROES 32 1 

vanus Landrum, Louisiana. All of these breth- 
ren, except Doctor Landrum and Doctor Riley, 
were employed as theological instructors in their 
various States. Their service was a labor of 
love. Each week Doctor Landrum met a large 
class of colored preachers and others, instructing 
them in the doctrines and practices of the New 
Testament church. The labors of Doctor Riley 
were similar to those of Doctor Landrum, and 
were rendered without compensation. The suc- 
cess of this effort made apparent the wisdom of 
the policy, and it was continued until the plan of 
co-operation with the American Baptist Home 
Mission Society and the State Conventions was 
inaugurated. 

The Board did not confine its efforts in behalf 
of the Negro race to ministerial education, but in 
1886 had in its employ more than twenty colored 
missionaries in the State of Texas. As part of 
the happy results of this joint work of the Home 
Board and the State Board, of Texas, Rev. A. J. 
Holt reported to the Texas Convention of 1887 
that the colored Baptists of Texas had contributed 
to their own State work nearly $8,000 within fif- 
teen months. The Board also entered into co- 
operation with the State Board and the colored 
Convention of Georgia, and under this arrange- 
ment ten of the best colored preachers in the 
State were employed. This number was gradu- 

V 



322 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

ally increased, until in 1890 the Board assisted in 
the support of forty-four colored missionaries who 
were preaching the gospel to their own race. Two 
of these were in Maryland, twelve in Georgia, 
and thirty in Texas. Much of the success of the 
work in Texas Doctor Holt ascribed to one man, 
and he a former slave. Elder A. R. Griggs, who 
had the confidence and co-operation of the white 
Baptists all over Texas. The Negroes were in- 
duced to appoint him superintendent of missions, 
and despite difficulties and embarrassments, fric- 
tion and jealousy, he built up a phenomenal work 
among his people. 

In Alabama, Rev. W. H. McAlpine, a man of 
high character, an able preacher, and good organ- 
izer, and one thoroughly acquainted with the need 
of his people, devised an excellent system of in- 
struction for the colored ministry of that State. 
He divided the .four hundred ministers and exhor- 
ters whom he gathered together, into thirty-three 
classes, and put them under a regular course of 
instruction. The classes met every week com- 
petent teachers, numbered among whom were 
some of the best preachers, both white and col- 
ored, in Alabama. In Tennessee, the Home 
Board conjointly with the State Board, supported 
Rev. M. Vann in his work among his own people. 
Rev. J. M. Brittain labored faithfully and with 
gratifying results in Georgia. The work of Mr. 



MISSION WORK AMONG THE NEGROES 323 

Brittain, in Georgia, and Rev. W. H. Mc Alpine, 
in Alabama, approached more nearly the ideal of 
such work than had ever before been attained. 

At the meeting of the Convention in 1894, a 
resolution was passed to the effect that a commit- 
tee be appointed to confer with a committee from 
the American Baptist Home Mission Society with 
reference to co-operation between the Home Board 
and the society in work among the colored people 
of the South. A joint committee from the two 
bodies met at Fortress Monroe, Va., September 
12, 1894. The meeting was characterized by 
Christian courtesy and unanimity, and there was 
full and free discussion of every question pre- 
sented. In its overture to the Home Mission So- 
ciety the committee of the Southern Convention 
stated that it desired to avoid discussion of past 
issues or matters on which it was known that the 
views of brethren North and South were widely 
divergent, and address itself to the task of secur- 
ing for the future such co-operation as might be 
found practicable, without attempting at once to 
adjust all differences. The committee also stated 
that in making this overture the Southern Baptist 
Convention was not prompted by any necessity of 
its work, or that of its Home Mission Board, but 
believing that the time had come when it should 
enlarge its work among the colored people of the 
South, it entertained the hope that a proper co- 



324 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

operation with the Home Mission Society in its 
work ah'eady established, would contribute to the 
efficiency of both. 

The questions considered were the schools for 
the Negroes controlled by the Home Mission So- 
ciety in the South, co-operation between the Home 
Mission Society and the Home Mission Board in 
mission work among the Negroes, and the determi- 
nation of a boundary line between these two great 
bodies. In regard to the second and most impor- 
tant question the following resolution was adopted : 

It is unanimously agreed by the joint committee to recom- 
mend to our respective bodies that the American Baptist 
Home Mission Society and the Home Mission Board of the 
Southern Baptist Convention co-operate in mission work 
among the colored people of the South, in connection with 
the Baptist State bodies, white and colored, in the joint 
appointment of colored missionaries, in holding ministers' 
and deacons' institutes, and in the better organization of 
the missionary work of the colored Baptists. The details 
of the plan are to be left to be agreed upon by the bodies 
above named. 

The report of the committee was adopted by the 
Convention of 1895, and the same year witnessed 
the first efforts toward carrying out its provisions. 
As this plan of work required the joint action of 
four bodies, the Home Mission Society, the Home 
Mission Board, the State Conventions both white 
and colored, and as these bodies met at different 



MISSION WORK AMONG THE NEGROES 325 

times, the work of securing their consent was a 
slow one. The plan required that each of the 
four contracting parties should share equally in 
the expense of the work at first, but provided for 
the general increase of the portion to be borne by 
the Negro Conventions, and a corresponding dimi- 
nution on the part of the other contracting bodies. 
It was agreed, in the States where a large Negro 
population was found, to appoint three district 
missionaries and a general superintendent of mis- 
sions having the oversight of the work in the 
whole State. These missionaries were to give 
their entire time to the interests of the colored 
churches, not only to preach the gospel but to aid 
pastorless churches to secure ministers, to promote 
schools, to aid young men studying for the minis- 
try, to settle difficulties in the churches, and to do 
anything which would promote the peace, purity, 
and efficiency of the colored churches. They 
were expected, above all, to be teachers of the 
pastors, and to hold at convenient places in their 
district, ministers' institutes. A course of study 
covering three years was adopted, and they were 
expected to follow this, introducing such other 
topics as the needs of different localities seemed 
to demand. 

The first State to adopt this plan was North 
Carolina, followed by Alabama and South Carolina, 
later by Virginia, and still later by Missouri, Ken- 



326 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

tucky, and Georgia. Success has attended the 
efforts thus made, and the expressions from the 
Negroes themselves have been most gratifying. 
A new bond of sympathy was forged between the 
two races. One of the missionaries in writing to 
the Home Board said : 

The colored Baptists are the spiritual children of the 
white Baptists, for we are what we are only by reason of 
their labors of sacrifice and love, and we greatly rejoice 
that the children so long left to wander in darkness are 
again to have the ministrations, if not of the Master, yet of 
the Master' s children. Give us light, open to us the Scrip- 
tures, acquaint us with him whom to know is life eternal, 
and we promise that naught but death shall separate us. 

Among the beneficent results of this work was a 
marvelous growth in intellectual and religious life 
among those who could have been reached in no 
other way, and an inspiration to the pastors to 
study their Bibles and pay more attention to 
the preparation of their sermons and to look 
more carefully after the spiritual and temporal 
welfare of their congregations. Another result 
was seen in the fact that the church made 
rapid progress, increasing in influence, member- 
ship, and appearance, and the relations between 
white and colored Baptists became more cordial 
and helpful. 

For a number of years the duty of putting forth 
some definite effort for the training and uplifting 



MISSJON WORK AMONG THE NEGROES 327 

of Negro women and children has been presented 
to the Baptist women of the South, taking definite 
shape in the maintenance, during eight years past, 
of several mothers' meetings and industrial schools 
in the city of Baltimore. No missionaries have 
been employed, but teachers have been secured 
from the white Baptists of Baltimore, assisted by 
such colored women as were found capable. The 
slight expense of the schools has been borne by 
the Home Mission Board. The aim of the schools 
has been to teach the Negroes to help themselves, 
and from them many are gained as regular attend- 
ants at Sunday-school. The children are trained 
to give, and their offerings are devoted to the sup- 
port of the children in the colored orphanage. 
The remark of one colored woman, that nothing 
so good had come to them since the emancipation, 
bears testimony to the grateful appreciation in 
which the work is held. It is impossible to esti- 
mate the results of the efforts of Southern Bap- 
tists among the Negroes. They stand not in 
tabulated statistics, and only the unfoldings of eter- 
nity will reveal how far the work has been suc- 
cessful. 



XV 

MISSIONS AMONG FOREIGN POPULATIONS 

THE enforced return of Rev. J. L. Shuck from 
Shanghai seemed to point to a providential 
opening for the establishment of a mission among 
the Chinese on the Pacific coast, so much in need 
of mission work. In the spring of 1854 Mr. 
Shuck went to California, investigated the advan- 
tages for such work offered at San Francisco and 
Sacramento, and, deciding in favor of the latter 
city, located there. He was influenced in his de- 
cision by the fact that there was a Chinese mission 
already in operation in San Francisco. There 
were as many respectable Chinese in Sacramento, 
though the whole number was not so large, and 
the growing prejudice of the Americans against 
the Chinese needed to be met publicly. Mr. 
Shuck was also advised to locate in Sacramento 
by friends who had an intimate knowledge of both 
cities. The salary necessary to support him was 
a heavy drain upon the Board, in order to meet 
which he was allowed to supply the pulpit of the 
Baptist church until it could secure a pastor and 
the Chinese chapel could be dedicated. While in 
328 



MISSIONS AMONG FOREIGN POPULATIONS 329 

Hong Kong, working among the Chinese, Mr. 
Shuck had had charge of an EngUsh church, and 
felt that he could better advance the cause of 
Christ by carrying on work in Sacramento among 
the English and Chinese at the same time. Hav- 
ing no chapel in which to hold services, Mr. 
Shuck visited the Chinese in their homes and 
sought out groups of them on Sunday afternoons. 
His kindness to the Chinese passengers injured 
by the explosion of the steamer " Pearl " won for 
him their undying gratitude. They showered 
gifts upon him, and the Chinese, as a whole, were 
more than ever open to his influence. Within 
three years after the mission was commenced a 
chapel had been built and paid for, and twelve 
Chinese converts had publicly professed their 
faith in Christ. One of these, Wong Moay, was 
a man of learning, and soon developed a high 
order of preaching talent. Another, Ah Chak, a 
man of fair attainments and no little business 
ability and influence, promised to be a valuable 
addition to the little band of converts. Mr. Shuck 
still continued his joint labors among the Ameri- 
cans and Chinese, and services were held for the 
latter from three to five times a week, sixteen con- 
verts from among them having been baptized prior 
to i860. The power of the gospel to transform 
heart and life was manifest in the constancy and 
fidelity of these Chinese Christians. 



330 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Mr. Shuck was assisted in his labors by Wong 
Moay and Ah Chak, who were notable for piety 
and ministerial ability. Having decided to lo- 
cate permanently in California, they returned to 
China for their wives. During the last year of 
Mr. Shuck's stay in California he was employed 
as a general missionary throughout the State. 
On his resignation in January, 1861, the Board 
appointed Mr. George Pearcy, a returned mis- 
sionary from China, in his place, the appointment 
being made conditional upon the acquisition of 
sufficient means to meet the expense. As this 
was not secured, and the troublous times of the 
Civil War were coming on, the mission was aban- 
doned. For some time little was done among the 
Chinese save in a casual way among those em- 
ployed on the railroads and plantations of the 
South. 

Nearly twenty years had elapsed, when provi- 
dential circumstances seemed to point to the re- 
opening of the abandoned mission among the 
Chinese in California. Mr. J. B. Hartwell, who 
had so ably demonstrated his ability as a mission- 
ary, and who had been compelled to relinquish for 
the time the hope of returning to China, was 
found to be available for the work in California. 
The Board felt that it could not miss such an op- 
portunity, and in November, 1879, Mr. Hartwell 
and his family arrived in San Francisco. Mrs. 



MISSIONS AMONG FOREIGN POPULATIONS 33 1 

Hartwell, whose health had already been seriously 
impaired, contracted a severe cold on the journey, 
which trouble terminated fatally soon after her ar- 
rival. Mr. Hartwell was cordially welcomed by 
the American Baptists resident in California and 
was received with demonstrations of joy and grati- 
tude by the Chinese Christians. He soon secured 
a suitable place for religious services and for a 
night school, where, though the times were turbu- 
lent, he was unmolested in his work. Mr. Hart- 
well was deeply interested in this school, and felt 
that with an efficient corps of teachers its in- 
fluence could be greatly increased. He did not 
expend his strength in teaching English to the 
Chinese, but spent a large part of every evening 
instructing them in the Bible in their own tongue. 
On February 15, 1880, Mr. Hartwell baptized 
his first Chinese convert in California. This 
young man, Lo Ping Ki, had been indulging a 
hope in Christ for some months and his life gave 
evidence of its renewing power. He was received 
into the fellowship of the First Baptist Church, 
where most of the Chinese Baptists in the city 
held their membership. Later in the year it was 
deemed expedient to organize the Chinese con- 
verts into a church, and October third the organ- 
ization was effected. Thus the little Chinese 
Baptist church started upon its mission of useful- 
ness among the large and increasing Chinese 



332 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

population of San Francisco. Soon after, Mr. 
Hartwell baptized a Chinese woman, the first 
woman of that race to be baptized in California, 
and probably the second in America. 

Mrs. J. L. Sanford, of Mississippi, was, in 1881, 
appointed to assist Mr. Hartwell, her special work 
being among the women and children. She was 
a valuable accession to the mission, and proved 
herself, under trying circumstances, earnest, per- 
severing, and diligent. Mr. Hartwell, having mar- 
ried again, was also assisted by his wife and Mrs. 
Hunting, the salary of the latter being provided 
for by the Baptist State Convention of California. 
The progress of the work was slow, but there was 
growth, and Mr. Hartwell's heart was sometimes 
gladdened by the deep interest manifested by the 
Chinese. Amid difficulties and discouragements 
the missionaries continued their faithful labors 
until the Board decided, in 1884, to discontinue 
the work. There were many reasons that seemed 
to indicate the wisdom of the decision. The 
mission lay outside of the territory peculiarly 
that of the Southern Baptist Convention, and 
it was an expensive one. Moreover, the facilities 
the Board had been able to supply the mission- 
aries were so poor as to furnish a discouraging 
contrast with other missions, and the Board could 
not command the means to place them on an equal- 
ity. The mission, therefore, was again abandoned. 



MISSIONS AMONG FOREIGN POPULATIONS 333 

No further work was undertaken for the Chi- 
nese by the Home Mission Board until Miss Lula 
Whilden, of the Canton Mission, while recuperat- 
ing in America, worked for several years among 
the Chinese in Baltimore, sustained by it and 
the Maryland Union Association conjointly. She 
spent much time visiting laundries, and was deeply 
interested in the Sunday-school connected with 
Eutaw Place Church. After a time, Sunday 
evening services were held with large and increas- 
ing attendance, and Doctor Graves, of Canton, 
during a visit to America, preached from time to 
time, the exercises being conducted partly in 
Chinese and partly in English. Since the organ- 
ization of the Chinese Sunday-school in Baltimore, 
others have sprung up in many Southern cities call- 
ing into activity the energies of many consecrated 
workers, and through them the Chinese have 
learned that they have warm and unselfish friends 
desirous of their spiritual welfare. There is 
promise in this, though the positive results have 
been meagre. 

In the field assigned by Providence to the Home 
Mission Board there was a large German popula- 
tion, numbers of whom were accessible to the 
preaching of the gospel. In some sections there 
was at first violent opposition to mission work, but 
this was soon overcome and some of the strong 
opposers became regular attendants upon the 



334 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

services. The Board, deeply interested in the 
spiritual advancement of this class of our popula- 
tion, encouraged every judicious application for 
aid, and reported to the Convention of 1859 the 
establishment of five missions among the Ger- 
mans. In May, 1857, Rev. Anthony Haeusler 
took charge of a small church in St. Louis, where 
the German population numbered thirty thousand 
and was rapidly increasing. The membership 
under Mr. Haeusler's care increased to fifty-seven. 
A Sunday-school was organized, and in October, 
1858, he was appointed a missionary of the Home 
Mission Board. 

Rev. John B. Madoulet was appointed a mis- 
sionary among the eighteen thousand Germans of 
Louisville, Ky., in June, 1857. He took charge 
of a church of eleven members, but under his 
ministration the number was soon more than 
doubled. Much of his time was spent visiting 
from house to house. Thus opportunities were 
afforded to converse with the people and answer 
their many and strange questions. Rev. Peter 
Klein, a native German, was appointed to labor 
under the auspices of the Home Mission Board 
and Baptist Convention of Southern Missouri at 
St. Genevieve and other points, and entered upon 
his duties in January, 1858. Mr. Klein's work 
led him among the strongholds of Romanism. 
At first he met with violent opposition, but after 



MISSIONS AMONG FOREIGN POPULATIONS 335 

a time even Roman Catholics attended upon his 
ministry and some were led to accept a pure gos- 
pel. 

Rev. William P^asching was employed among 
the large German population of Nev/ Orleans. 
Here the German church owned a neat and com- 
fortable house of worship and contributed gener- 
ously of its means, the members voluntarily tax- 
ing themselves ten per cent, on their gross income 
for church expenses. There was also a mission 
among the Germans in Baltimore, in charge of 
Rev. John Melire. The missionaries met with en- 
couraging success, but the disasters of the Civil 
War overtook this work while it was still in its 
infancy, and the Home Board was unable to pros- 
ecute it. For several years after the close of the 
war its missionary efforts among the Germans 
were confined to the city of Baltimore ; but in 
1870 Mr. Haeusler was again appointed to his work 
in Missouri, and from time to time the work was 
extended to other cities and towns of Missouri, 
Kentucky, and Texas. 

The Board conducted its operations among the 
hundred thousand Germans of Texas in connec- 
tion with the State Board. Rev. F. Kieffer, one 
of the ablest German preachers in America, was 
in its employ, and his labors were greatly blessed. 
Rev. J. M. Hoefflin had charge of a mission in 
the interior of Missouri, where the German popu- 



336 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

lation is very large and where a number of small 
but efficient churches was organized. In Kansas 
City Mr. Sievers was employed as missionary pas- 
tor of a small church. At the earnest solicitation 
of the State Mission Board, of Kentucky, the 
Home Board also took charge of a mission among 
the Germans in the city of Louisville. 

In 1890 the City Mission Board, of St. Louis, 
and the Home Mission Board called Rev. Andrew 
Konzelmann to plant a mission in South St. Louis. 
There was no flattering prospect of success, but 
the Lord honored his faithful service, and at the 
close of the first year he rejoiced in the organiza- 
tion of a church of fourteen members. The 
second year was blessed with yet greater pros- 
perity. By baptism, letter, and restoration the 
church increased over two hundred per cent. 
The German Baptist Association, of Missouri, at 
its meeting in 1891, sent a letter to the Home 
Mission Board, expressing hearty thanks for the 
very liberal aid given to carry on the work among 
the Germans in the State of Missouri. On Feb- 
ruary 22, 1894, the First German Baptist Church, 
at St. Joseph, Mo., was organized. Thirteen 
brought letters of dismission from their former 
church homes and constituted the new organiza- 
tion. Rev. Otto Beckelman was the energetic 
missionary at this point. 

Church edifices have been erected in St. Louis 



MISSIONS AMONG FOREIGN POPULATIONS 33/ 

and Louisville, and in Kansas City a lot admir- 
ably located has been purchased, and Mr. Sievers 
has made heroic efforts to erect a church. His 
efforts at this writing are being crowned with suc- 
cess. A steady exodus is going forward from the 
German to the English-speaking churches. Thus 
the German churches are deprived of some of their 
best members, and usually the younger members, 
who serve as feeders to the English churches. The 
time may come when they will be no longer needed, 
but that will only be when immigration has ceased 
and the older generation of German-speaking 
people shall have passed away. 

Some years ago a mission was opened among 
the Germans of Oklahoma, under the care of Rev. 
E. Graalman, an earnest and devoted man, whose 
work was attended with no little success. In 
1892 Mrs. William Rinzman, wife of the pastor 
of the German church in Baltimore, opened the 
first industrial school among the Germans of that 
city. This effort enlisted the sympathy and co- 
operation of the Baptist women in the English- 
speaking churches, and has grown until there are 
now three schools with twenty teachers and two 
hundred and seventy-five pupils. These schools 
have proved a valuable aid to the work, not only 
in gathering children into the Sunday-schools, but 
in winning the confidence and interest of the par- 
ents. 

w 



338 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Mission work among the Germans has never 
made rapid progress. They are a somewhat phleg- 
matic people, slow to relinquish their former habits 
of thought and their beliefs; but when they accept 
Baptist ideas they are steadfast in their adherence 
and clear and strong in their convictions, which 
they maintain with unflinching devotion. Liber- 
ality is a marked characteristic of their Christian- 
ity, and it is said that a few of them gathered into 
a church will build a house of worship and support 
a pastor comfortably, where many of our Ameri- 
can Baptist churches would allow him to starve. 
An old German widow over seventy years of age 
made a will leaving all her property to the Home 
Mission Board to be used in extending the cause 
of German missions in Missouri. The pastor of 
the German church at Covington, Ky., said that 
servant girls, members of his church, whose wages 
were but six dollars a month, paid for his support 
twelve dollars annually, and gave two dollars a 
year to missions. 

A work of far-reaching influence was that begun 
in 1893, at the immigrant pier in Baltimore. Miss 
Marie Buhlmaier was appointed to meet incoming 
vessels and render any assistance in her power to 
strangers seeking a home on our shores. A woman 
of ready sympathy, winsome manner, and heaven- 
born tact, she is peculiarly adapted to this work. 
She understands the heartache, the worry, the 



MISSIONS AMONG FOREIGN POPULATIONS 339 

danger through which these strangers are passing, 
as well as the inconvenience to which they are 
subjected. As she meets them with sympathy 
and encouragement, they listen gladly when she 
speaks to them words of comfort and life. 

She has distributed thousands of Bibles and 
tracts, and when she cannot speak with the for- 
eigners in their own tongue, delivers her message 
through the printed page. A map of the United 
States is given to each one, and on the reverse 
side is printed a list of all the towns containing 
German Baptist pastors. These, they are told, 
will respond to any appeal for aid. 

During Dr. Eager's stay in Baltimore, after his 
return from Italy, the wisdom of opening a mission 
among the Italians in that city was suggested to 
the Home Board. The services of Rev. Rafael 
Galassi were secured, and in 1 897 a Sunday-school 
was organized, and preaching services are held 
every Sabbath. The Home Board also has mis- 
sionaries among the Mexicans in Texas and New 
Mexico, where Dr. Alexander Marchand has la- 
bored for a number of years, and among the 
French in Missouri and Louisiana. No other mis- 
sionary enterprise appeals so strongly to the patri- 
otism of every American as does that among the 
foreign population, for the future of the republic 
depends upon the Christian citizenship of its 
people. 



XVI 

THE INDIAN MISSIONS 

MISSION work among the Indians was no 
new thing to Southern Baptists when the 
Convention was organized in 1845. It had been 
carried on mainly by the Indian Mission Associa- 
tion located in Louisville, Ky., which was largely 
supported by the Baptists of the South. At the 
first session of the Convention a resolution was in- 
troduced recommending the churches to sustain 
this Association with zeal and liberality. The 
Convention which met in Montgomery, Ala., in 
1855, received a proposition of union from the 
Association, and to transfer its mission work to 
the Home Mission Board of the Convention. The 
proposition was accepted, and the Home Mission 
Board took the work under its fostering care. At 
this time its missionaries were stationed among 
the Indians, who then inhabited the territory now 
covered by the States of Kansas and Nebraska. 
Schools were established among these tribes, 
churches were organized, and much good was 
accomplished. But the tide of white immigration, 
sweeping westward, overwhelmed this people of 
340 



THE INDIAN MISSIONS 34 1 

many wrongs, and of the work done among them 
there remains but the name and memory. 

The proposition of the Indian Mission Associa- 
tion had been accepted with the understanding 
that the assets on hand would fully liquidate the 
liabilities of the Association. After the transfer 
was effected it was found that the debts of the 
Association were twofold greater than its ability 
to pay. When it became known that the Home 
Mission Board had become responsible for all just 
claims against the Association, accounts were pre- 
sented that increased to over ;^ 15,000 the unpaid 
indebtedness. Thus a deficit of ^9,000 was left 
to be provided for. Of this sum, ^2,000 was real- 
ized from accounts against the government and 
from other sources, and within nine months the 
whole of the remainder was secured. Rarely has 
more prompt, hearty, or successful effort been put 
forth to meet an emergency. Southern Baptists 
felt that the honor of the denomination demanded 
energetic and liberal measures, and nobly they re- 
sponded to the call. 

The Home Mission Board has confined its 
labors in large measure to the Indians within the 
limits of the Indian Territory, the Cherokees, 
Creeks, Choctaws, Chicasaws, and Seminoles ; to 
some extent, however, the wild tribes in the west- 
ern part of the Territory, have shared in its min- 
istry. The Board reported to the Convention of 



342 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

1857, twenty-six missionaries, white and native, in 
its employ. It was difficult to obtain statistics, 
as in many cases the native preachers could not 
speak or write English, and it was with difficulty 
that they could report satisfactorily their own la- 
bors. But most of the missions were in a flourish- 
ing condition, and three hundred and twenty-four 
baptisms were reported. 

Rev. J. A. Slover commenced his work among 
the Cherokees early in 1857. He met with much 
opposition, and labored the first year under great 
disadvantages. There were no tangible results, 
and his faith was sorely tried. The year 1858, 
however, opened with more cheering prospects, 
and two candidates were received for baptism, 
while before the year closed, two churches had 
been constituted, with an aggregate membership 
of twenty-eight. 

For years there was no white missionary among 
the Choctaws. Six native preachers among them, 
active, pious, and useful men, deplored this fact, 
and often entreated its removal. • At last a stirring 
appeal was sent to the Home Board and met with 
a favorable response. It said in quaint language, 
" We are praying you, like unto Macedonia to 
Paul, * Come over and help us.' " They begged for 
missionaries to live among them, as their church- 
members were becoming discouraged because of 
the error flowing in on every side. They pleaded 



THE INDIAN MISSIONS 343 

for translations of the New Testament and other 
books, saying they were too much beholden to 
Pedobaptists, who translated the Bible and hymn 
books according to their peculiar views of Chris- 
tian baptism. Rev. Willis Burns, and Rev. R. J. 
Hogue were appointed for this work. The results 
of their efforts were such as to produce great en- 
couragement. In September, i860, an Associa- 
tion of Choctaw Baptist churches was organized, 
and there seemed to be a growing desire that the 
work should increase. 

The name of H. F. Buckner is indissolubly 
linked with the Creek mission not only in its be- 
ginnings but through many years of its history. 
Perhaps his greatest achievement was his transla- 
tions into the Creek language. When it was de- 
cided by competent judges that the translations of 
the New Testament into the Indian languages 
were not only defective in literary merit but in fi- 
delity to the Scriptures as well, it was deemed al- 
most imperative that correct ones should be made. 
Mr. Buckner was appointed to do this work for the 
Creeks. He found the Creek language, so far as 
it was reduced to writing, very imperfect, and sug- 
gested very important changes in the alphabet, the 
grammar, and vocabulary. When the Convention 
met in 1861, Mr. Buckner, assisted by his interpre- 
ter, had completed the translation of the Gospel 
of John, together with a hymn book, a grammar. 



344 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

and an illustrated alphabet. A number of copies 
of each had been published and by the prompt aid 
rendered to the Board every copy was paid for. 

Closely connected with the question of giving 
the Indians a correct translation of the Bible was 
that of the desirability of the missionaries' acquir- 
ing the language of the tribes to which they min- 
istered. After careful investigation it was decided 
that some of them should master the Indian lan- 
guages, since there were many places where noth- 
ing else was spoken. Even then it was possible 
to carry on work through an interpreter; but it 
was difficult to secure enough competent inter- 
preters, and to have them at hand when wanted. 
To be able to speak to the people at any and all 
times in their own tongue was therefore a great 
advantage. In many places where the congrega- 
tions were so mixed that services confined to either 
English or Indian would be unintelligible to many, 
it was better to use an interpreter as less diffi- 
cult and promising fully as great success. 

A movement was made among the Cherokees 
and Choctaws to sustain missionaries among them 
at their own expense, and enough was secured to 
pay the salaries of two men under the appoint- 
ment of the Board. According to their knowl- 
edge and circumstances the Indians were not 
behind their white brethren in the exercise of the 
Christian graces. The list of native preachers in 



THE INDIAN MISSIONS 345 

the Indian Territory contains some notable names. 
Among these may be mentioned John Mcintosh, 
Wm. McCombs, and Chillie Mcintosh. The last 
named was a man of great ability and influence, 
and did much for the introduction of Christianity 
among his people. Lewis Cass, Simon Hancock, 
and Peter Folsom did faithful work in the evangel- 
ization of their own people, the Choctaws. 

John Jumper stands pre-eminent among the 
Seminoles. He was chief of his tribe for many 
years and when the infirmities of age had come 
upon him he would have laid down the burden of 
office, but his people, who loved him as children 
love a father, wanted no other to take his place. 
Those who saw him when he last visited the Con- 
vention at its meeting in Dallas, Texas, can well 
understand the love his people bore him. The 
powerful frame, the face whereon a noble nature 
reflected itself in an expression of strength and 
gentleness, and the head with its crown of snowy 
hair, made an impression that lingered in the 
memory and bore witness to the forceful character 
of the man. His remarkable appearance, his 
great intellect, and warm heart, left an impress 
upon his people as lasting as their nationality. 

No more remarkable character than that of 
Joseph Islands, "apostle of the Creeks," influ- 
enced the early history of Indian missions. His 
boyhood was spent in Alabama, and there the first 



346 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Christian influence was exercised over his life. 
Grown to manhood he was a leader in wild revelry, 
and his knowledge of the violin made him indis- 
pensable at all the gatherings of his young associ- 
ates. One night in a drunken brawl his best 
friend was killed. The next day in his sorrow and 
loneliness he sought the spot where his friend was 
to be laid. Old Billy, a Christian Negro, who had 
been set to dig the grave, seeing his distress began 
to talk with him of death, of the great beyond, 
and of Jesus and the resurrection. The arrows 
of conviction sank deep in his soul, and in old 
Billy's cabin he learned more and more of the 
way of life until light dawned upon his darkness. 
At this time there was a most stringent law 
against the introduction of Christianity among the 
Indians, and to any one found engaged in Chris- 
tian worship thirty-nine lashes were to be admin- 
istered by the police. Islands and Billy com- 
muned together in secret for many days, but they 
could not long resist the desire to give others the 
good tidings. They talked to their friends and 
soon gathered a little company, who met at a secret 
spot for religious worship. As one after another 
accepted Christ his name was placed upon the roll 
of disciples until they numbered thirty. Mean- 
while the authorities awoke to the spread of Chris- 
tianity, and the mounted police were urged to 
greater vigilance in the execution of the law. The 



THE INDIAN MISSIONS 347 

Christian Indians were as cunning as their perse- 
cutors and in secluded places continued their meet- 
ings. A spy who lay in the woods one night near 
their place of worship heard Islands praying for 
his people, his persecutors, the police, and the spies 
who were watching, calling the man by name and 
asking the great Spirit to defeat his evil purposes 
and change his heart. A sense of guilt such as 
he had never known took possession of the spy. 
As the service continued he heard of Christ's love 
for sinful men and was lost in wonder. How long 
he lay there in an agony of fear and penitence he 
never knew, but when the disciples met again he 
stood in their midst and told how the great Spirit 
had protected them and convicted him. Before 
the meeting closed he found his Lord, and with 
great joy saw his name enrolled among those of 
the disciples. 

The Christians were not always so fortunate. 
One night the light horse surrounded their place 
of worship, every avenue of escape was cut off, 
and they were led forth, one by one, to receive the 
penalty of the law. With serenity, patience, and 
submission, they accepted their punishment, but 
as the executioners laid on the cruel thong they 
stopped short, unable to withstand the influence 
of the radiant faces before them. The captain 
tried to shame them for what he considered cow- 
ardly weakness, but when the women stood un- 



34^ MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

flinchingly before the fearful ordeal he too was 
overwhelmed with a sense of awe. Feebly they 
finished their task. The next day the captain and 
several of his men surrendered their positions, say- 
ing they could not whip these people for praying 
to and loving Jesus. Others more savage and de- 
termined were sought to fill their places, but their 
hands were paralyzed by the meek submission of 
their victims, and they too came to the chief^ 
saying, " God's Spirit claims these people ; we 
must let them alone." 

Efforts to suppress the new religion became 
more and more feeble. Members of prominent 
families became Christians, and Chillie Mcintosh, 
one of the most wealthy, powerful, and popular 
chiefs, was converted. When the excitement was 
at its height the national council met and re- 
pealed the law against the introduction of Chris- 
tianity among the Indians. Joseph Islands had 
just moved into a new house when the law was 
repealed, but he moved back into his old one and 
gave the new one for a house of worship. This 
was the first house of worship in the Creek nation. 

The Civil War brought ruin and desolation to 
the Indian as to his white neighbor. A larger 
proportion of the population of their territory was 
under arms than that of any State North or South. 
Both armies made their country a highway. Their 
civilization was broken down, their schools dis- 



THE INDIAN MISSIONS 349 

banded, their churches scattered, and their coun- 
try ravaged. When the end came the Indians 
accepted the new order without complaint. They 
freed their slaves, divided their heritage with them, 
and gave them the same educational privileges as 
their own. New governments were organized, 
schools reopened, and dilapidated church buildings 
were repaired, and in time the missionaries re- 
turned to aid them. 

The Board was able to resume only a small part 
of its work in the Territory at the close of the 
war. Funds were scarce and there were many 
pressing demands upon the treasury. Only two 
white and two native missionaries were in its em- 
ploy iK. 1867, ^11 2.t work among the Choctaws. 
The results, however, were encouraging, and they 
baptized thirty during the year. There were many 
faithful and efficient men eager to take up the 
work, and the Creeks and the Cherokees implored 
the aid of the Board to resume missionary opera- 
tions. The Board responded to these appeals 
from the Territory as rapidly as the gifts of the 
churches would allow. In 1870 Rev. E. L. Com- 
pere, who was employed in Arkansas, was in- 
structed to extend his field into the Territory and 
render all possible assistance to missions among 
the Indians, especially among the Choctaw and 
Cherokee nations. The same year Rev. H. F. 
Buckner returned to his work among the Creeks. 



350 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

The Friendship Association of Georgia decided 
to adopt Mr. Buckner as its missionary and thus 
relieve the Board of his support. He agreed to 
this on condition that he should work in harmony 
with the Board and send to it duplicate reports of 
his labors. Rev. J. S. Murrow also returned to 
work among the Choctaws as the missionary of 
the Rehoboth Association of Georgia, which had 
sustained him for a number of years prior to the 
war. In a letter dated Atoka, March, 1870, Mr. 
Murrow says the little Rehoboth Church, less than 
a year old and consisting of only twenty-one mem- 
bers, decided, at his suggestion, to adopt a native 
brother as their missionary and to pledge him 
^100 a year. The Coosa Association of Georgia 
adopted a native as its missionary. Rev. R. J. 
Hogue was at this time sustained by the Bethel 
Association, and in the autumn of 1872, Rev. J. 
A. Preston returned to the scene of his former 
efforts, sustained by the Georgia Association. 
Thus Georgia Baptists at this time bore nearly 
all the expense of the Indian Mission. 

Comfortable homes for the missionaries in the 
Territory became an urgent necessity, and several 
of these were soon supplied. Profound sympathy 
was enlisted for Doctor Buckner, who, with his 
family, was living in a log cabin, twelve feet square, 
his kitchen a more uncomfortable cabin. The ac- 
count of his privations and hardships was brought 



THE INDIAN MISSIONS 35 I 

to the East by Rev. S. L. Helm, for many years 
secretary of the Indian Mission Association, who 
had been requested by the Board to visit the mis- 
sion and report its condition. This report was 
most favorable. No trial or privation could 
quench Buckner's zeal or relax his efforts ; but 
Mr. Helm was deeply touched by the destitution 
in his home. Mr. Helm determined that this 
heroic family should have a comfortable home, 
and so earnest were his efforts that it was soon 
secured. The Indians appreciated this house as 
an expression of confidence in their apostle, and 
regarded it as a compliment to them. 

In response to an urgent appeal from the wild 
tribes to open Christian work among them, the 
Board appointed Rev. A. J. Holt, who had been 
teaching among the Seminoles. Mr. Holt located 
at the Wichita Agency and entered upon his duties 
with zeal, energy, and devotion. He was at first 
received favorably by the Indians and his most 
serious obstacle was the opposition of some of the 
whites connected with the agency, who were un- 
willing to have a Baptist mission established, and 
who succeeded, by misrepresentation to the gov- 
ernment, in having him expelled from the agency. 
An explanation was demanded and, on investiga- 
tion, the Indian Department fully vindicated the 
missionary from the charges made against him. 

Mr. Holt endeavored to continue his work, but 



352 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

the prejudices of the Indians had been aroused — a 
prejudice not so much against the gospel as against 
the white people. After patient investigation of 
the affairs of the mission, a change of policy was 
deemed advisable. Mr. Holt was recalled and a 
native preacher was put in his place. John Mcin- 
tosh, who was the first to carry the gospel to these 
wild tribes, was chosen for this field. Prompted by 
an ardent desire for the salvation of his race, with- 
out salary or the usual means of support, he had 
gone to the wild tribes and, as a result of his ef- 
forts, baptized fourteen of their number. 

The desire of the Creek nation for a manual 
labor school was brought to the attention of the 
Convention of 1877. The council had made an 
appropriation of one hundred and sixty acres of 
land for the school and proposed to make an an- 
nual appropriation of ^6,000 for the education of 
fifty boys and fifty girls, the former to be instruc- 
ted in farming and the mechanic arts and the lat- 
ter in domestic economy. The Board of the 
Muskokee Baptist Association, with which the 
council of the Creek nation had entered into an 
agreement, decided to transfer all rights to the 
Home Mission Board, with certain provisos. The 
Board asked the consent of the Convention to use 
the legacy of Mr. Eugene Levering in order to 
make this opportunity available, with the proviso 
that a sum sufficient, with the amount of the 



THE INDIAN MISSIONS 353 

legacy, to complete the buildings and prepare the 
farm should be secured before the work was begun, 
that there might be no debt of any kind upon the 
property. 

Insufficient means prevented the immediate 
prosecution of the plan, but in 1879 sufficient 
funds were in sight to justify entering upon the 
work. In the autumn of that year the corre- 
sponding secretary visited the Creek nation during 
the session of their national council to hold con- 
ference with reference to establishing the school. 
A kindly welcome was accorded him and his 
friends. Though differing on matters of religion 
and politics the council was agreed on the question 
of education, and when the plan which had been de- 
vised by the committees appointed by the two 
houses of council and the secretary of the Board 
was reported to the respective houses, it was 
adopted without a dissenting vote. 

The year following the secretary again visited 
the Creek nation and gave out the contract for the 
erection of buildings suitable for the accommoda- 
tion of a hundred pupils. A location was selected 
with due regard to health and good water and land 
was chosen with a regard to its fertility, timber, and 
pasturage. On September 5, 1881, the Levering 
Mission Manual Labor School was opened with a 
hundred pupils. The buildings were completely 
furnished and paid for. Rev. J. A. Trenchard, a 

X 



354 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

graduate of the University of Georgia, and a 
teacher of large experience was elected superin- 
tendent. An encouraging prospect lay before 
him, new pupils were enrolled, and the students 
made good progress. A religious interest was 
awakened among the pupils, fifteen were bap- 
tized, and a number of others were deeply inter- 
ested. Religious instruction was given with the 
same regularity as other lessons and on Sunday 
the International Lessons were taught with aston- 
ishing success. Valuable assistance was rendered 
by the ladies of Lexington and Louisville, Ky., 
and Baltimore, Md., in furnishing boxes of cloth- 
ing for the pupils. 

The work continued with encouraging success, 
save for a brief period of disturbance in the Creek 
nation, and Mr. Trenchard's report to the council 
in October, 1882, was so gratifying that they im- 
mediately passed a bill donating ^500 to supply 
the school with apparatus and to paint the build- 
ings. The resignation of Mr. Trenchard after his 
wife's death, necessitated a change in the manage- 
ment of the school. Major I. G. Vore, a man of 
long residence in the Territory, thoroughly ac- 
quainted with Indian character, manners, and cus- 
toms, devoted to their welfare and having their 
full confidence, was elected to succeed him. 

The year 1884-1885 was full of encouragement. 
There were many baptisms and restorations to the 



THE INDIAN MISSIONS 355 

churches ; the Levering school was full to over- 
flowing, and the efforts of the Board to arouse the 
missionary spirit among the people began to meet 
with success. Two Associations, that of the 
Creeks and that of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, 
united to support a missionary among the wild 
tribes, while the Creeks appointed a missionary in 
their own bounds. From this time forward the 
Board endeavored to throw more of the responsi- 
bility for the support of the native ministry on the 
churches, and advocated the white missionaries 
turning their thoughts to the instruction of the 
native preachers and aiding them in developing the 
piety and activity of the churches. The duty of 
evangelization had been largely met ; the demand 
of the hour was for development in the practical 
duties of Christian living. Among the five civil- 
ized tribes there was an average of one Baptist 
church for every thousand Indians, but little effort 
had been made toward training them. This lack 
of training was the fatal blunder of early mission 
work among the Indians. It will be a fatal 
blunder wherever it exists, whether in the home or 
foreign field. The efforts of the Board to remedy 
this lack soon brought about a better condition. 

The Choctaws, under Mr. Murrow's guidance, 
set themselves diligently to the endeavor to estab- 
lish a Baptist school where young men studying 
for the ministry, as well as others, might be taught. 



356 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

They also contributed liberally toward a commodi- 
ous and well-arranged church house in Atoka. 
Mr. Murrow made a visit to the mission among 
the wild tribes at Anadarko and found the work 
very interesting. After his visit several members 
of the Wichita church went out among the other 
wild tribes that had no gospel privileges, thus 
themselves becoming missionaries. A few years 
later, in 1883, there was among the wild tribes in 
the western part of the Territory a little band of 
sixty-nine members, speaking thirteen different 
languages, who had been gathered together by the 
missionaries, and who remained steadfast, holding 
meetings every Sabbath and praying for some 
one to teach them more of Jesus. A native 
Creek, ardent and devoted, was appointed as their 
missionary. 

An interesting mission was opened among the 
Kiowas, who numbered two thousand five hun- 
dred. Their reservation was in the southwest 
portion of the Territory, near the pan-handle of 
Texas, and though called wild Indians they were 
not nomads. One of their number, who had been 
educated at Carlisle, Pa., told Mr. Murrow that, so 
far as he knew, he was the only Christian among 
them. The station was put in charge of Mr. and 
Mrs. Lancaster, simple, earnest Christian people. 
The Indians treated them kindly and expressed 
confidence and gratitude. They said they were 



1 



THE INDIAN MISSIONS 2>S7 

anxious to live as the white people lived, and Mr. 
Lancaster endeavored to teach them to farm, 
while his wife opened a little school. They were 
anxious for churches and schools, preferring not to 
send their children to the States. Mr. Lancaster 
was surprised at his kindly reception and the con- 
fidence reposed in him, for the white men who had 
come among them heretofore had been men of 
such evil life and character, and none had ever 
taught them purity, sobriety, and industry. Mr. 
Lancaster bravely rebuked the vices of the In- 
dians, and tried to teach them what they said they 
wanted to know, the true road that leads to the 
great Spirit. 

In the summer of 1891 Mr. Murrow tendered 
his resignation as a missionary of the Board. He 
declined to co-operate with the Board in its efforts 
to organize the churches in the Territory, which 
were in sympathy with the Convention, into such 
a body as would be efficient in promoting the work 
in the Territory, and as his relations with the 
Board had not seemed to be satisfactory to him, 
his resignation was accepted. 

The Levering school was never more prosperous 
than under the management of J. O. Wright, who 
was the principal teacher, and who on the death of 
Major Vore, succeeded him as superintendent. It 
was exerting a most beneficent influence in behalf 
of Christian education and the development of in- 



35^ MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

dustrial pursuits among the people ; but the Creek 
nation, having become possessed of a larger per 
capita school fund than other people, resolved to 
terminate all existing contracts with all mission 
Boards, and resume the sole responsibility for the 
education of its people. In accordance with this 
resolution, the Levering school was transferred to 
the control of the Creek nation at the close of the 
session of 1891. 

The Woman's Society of Christian Work of the 
Creek and Seminole Baptist churches was organ- 
ized in 1888. James Colbert and William Mc- 
Combs drafted the constitution and organized a 
local society, which in 1891 included all the 
churches of both nations. The women were new 
to organized work, and their progress at first was 
slow, but their faithfulness and earnestness were 
such as to give promise of success. James Col- 
bert was a man of some note among his people. 
He was a full-blood Creek Indian, and a boy of 
such promise that his uncle, who had the care of 
him, sent him to one of the mission schools. 
Doctor Buckner then became interested in him and 
secured for him a place in the institute at Nash- 
ville, Tenn., and later was instrumental in giving 
him two sessions at the Southern Baptist Theo- 
logical Seminary, where he studied for the min- 
istry. In 1 89 1 he was one of the foremost 
preachers in the Creek and Seminole nations. 



THE INDIAN MISSIONS 359 

He was pastor of the Tuskegee church for six- 
teen years and until the time of his death in the 
spring of 1898. The Indian Territory lost one of 
its ablest helpers when, in November, 1895, Rev. 
E. L. Compere entered into rest. He was a man 
of vigorous intellect, strong conviction, and stead- 
fast courage, and the influence of his life will 
endure for many years to come. For a number 
of years the work of the Home Mission Board 
among the Indians was done in connection with 
the General Association of West Arkansas and 
Indian Territory. The Board made no appoint- 
ments in the Territory, but aided the Association 
in prosecuting its work. 

Complications similar to those which had arisen 
in Oklahoma Territory prevailed in Indian Terri- 
tory, and the condition of affairs had become such 
as to make it necessary for the good of the work 
there, either that the American Baptist Home 
Mission Society and the Home Mission Board 
should enter into co-operation, or else that one or 
the other should withdraw from the field. A con- 
ference of five members from the Home Mission 
Society, five from the Home Mission Board, and 
five from each of the rival Conventions in the 
Territory, met at South McAlister in March, 1900, 
and after a protracted and exhaustive discussion 
plans were devised and heartily agreed to, looking 
to the union of the two Conventions upon terms 



360 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

agreeable to both. All necessary arrangements 
were made for carrying the plans agreed upon 
into execution. In the autumn a meeting of the 
two rival Conventions was held at Durant. When 
the two bodies met in temporary organization, 
many questions arose which threatened to make 
unification impracticable, but a spirit of generosity 
and forbearance prevailed, matters were satisfac- 
torily adjusted, and the two Conventions united 
according to the terms of the agreement entered 
into at South McAlister. This unification has not 
fulfilled its promise of harmony. The Home Mis- 
sion Society differs from the Home Mission Board 
in policy and practice, and its larger means enables 
it to conduct its affairs on a more expensive scale 
than the Home Board is in a position to afford. 
These differences and inequalities are sometimes 
painfully evident. Harmonious relations or a di- 
vision of territory are essential to that determined 
and continuous effort which the problems of the 
Territory demand. Not least among these is the 
race problem, and in a Christian civilization lies 
the only hope of its satisfactory adjustment. The 
greed of the white man has pursued the Indian 
into his last stronghold, and only the restraining 
power of Christianity will prevent yet greater 
wrong to this fast-vanishing race. 



XVII 

THE CUBAN MISSION 

GOD'S providence has never been more clearly 
demonstrated than in the island of Cuba. A 
resolution directing the Foreign Mission Board to 
open a mission in Cuba was brought before the 
Convention of 1882, but was tabled with scarcely 
an opposing voice. The mover of the resolution 
requested that it be recorded upon the minutes ; 
but when sought, the paper could not be found 
and no record was made of it. However, God's 
Spirit was already moving upon the hearts of his 
people. While the Convention was tabling this 
resolution, the man chosen of God to open this 
work lay upon a bed of sickness in a strange city, 
coming into the light of the glorious gospel. 

Another link in the chain of events leading to 
the emancipation of Cuba from the thraldom of 
Romanism was being forged in the history of 
Adella Fales, a young Cuban girl, whose parents 
moved to Biloxi, Miss., while she was yet a child. 
The two sisters, Marie and Adella, attended Sun- 
day-school and the Baptist church. The mother 
and sister were baptized, but Adella, being only 

361 



362 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

seven, was thought too young. After two years 
they returned to Cuba and Adella sorrowed greatly 
at leaving her Sunday-school. She carried her 
Testament and a number of Sunday-school pa- 
pers with her, and would read to her playmates 
and tell them of the school she went to on Sun- 
day. She often came to her parents crying and 
begging them to move back to the United States, 
where she could go to her school and get her 
paper, '' Kind Words," again. 

Her family remained in Cuba seven years and 
then moved to Key West just before Rev. W. F. 
Wood went there as pastor. Adella began to 
hunt for her Sunday-school and found one in the 
Episcopal church, but to her great disappointment 
there was no "Kind Words." She joined the 
school and told the minister that she wanted to 
work for Jesus. Soon after the long-closed Bap- 
tist church in Key West was opened and a Sun- 
day-school organized. One afternoon a Cuban girl 
came into the school and quietly took her seat. 
When the pastor in distributing " Kind Words," 
offered her a paper, she sprang to her feet, took 
it in both hands, kissed it, and sat back weeping. 
The pastor spoke kindly to her, wondering at her 
agitation. Soon after Mr. Wood, in walking 
through the burying ground^ read these fading 
words on the tombstone of a Methodist minister : 
** Don't give up Cuba." As he sat in his study. 



' THE CUBAN MISSION 363 

praying and pondering over the words, his wife 
came in to say that a Cuban girl wanted to see 
him. It was Adella Fales. She told him of her 
early impressions and of the joy that had come 
to her. Filled with a burning purpose, he ex- 
claimed in faith : ** Thank God, Cuba for Christ." 

The Florida Convention, in 1884, instructed its 
Board of Missions to employ Miss Fales as teacher 
and interpreter for Mr. Wood. She entered upon 
her work at once, and, as a result of their united 
efforts, many Cubans were converted and baptized, 
among them a brother of Adella. Thus the " Baby 
Mission," as it was called by Dr. H. H. Tucker, 
who by tongue and pen sought to create and foster 
an interest in the work, entered upon its ministry 
of blessing. 

Meanwhile God was preparing another instru- 
ment for his use in the redemption of Cuba. 
Some years previously, during a Cuban rebellion, 
a young captain in the rebel army was sent by his 
commander to notify the occupants of one of the 
outposts that they were in danger of an attack by 
Spanish forces. In attempting to execute this 
order he and his companions were surrounded by 
the enemy at a point on the seashore. Escape by 
land was impossible, and, rather than surrender, 
they decided to trust themselves to the mercy of 
the deep. Under cover of night each selected a 
piece of wood and plunged into the sea, hoping 



364 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

that the strong current sweeping around the 
island would bear them beyond their enemies to a 
point where they could land and return in safety 
to their friends. But the current bore them out to 
sea and about midnight they were picked up by a 
small vessel. 

The captain, Alberto J. Diaz, found his way to 
New York. A graduate of the University of 
Havana in both its law and medical departments, 
he determined to prosecute his medical studies 
during his stay in the city. The climate proved 
too severe for this child of the tropics, and he was 
prostrated by an attack of pneumonia. His sad 
condition brought to his aid a young lady. Miss 
Alice Tucker, a Christian and a Baptist, whose 
regard he had won by his politeness and intelli- 
gence. As she sat by his bedside ministering to 
his wants she often read her Bible, and, as her 
patient said, " closed her eyes and talked to her- 
self." This strange conduct excited his curiosity, 
and when in reply to his questioning she told him 
that the book was the New Testament and that 
she had been praying for him, he became anxious 
to possess the book. She gave it to him and he 
began translating it into Spanish that he might 
the better understand it. While thus engaged he 
learned that he could obtain a Spanish translation 
from the American Bible Society, and, securing 
one, commenced a diligent study of the life of 



THE CUBAN MISSION 365 

Christ. The story of blind Bartimeus strongly 
impressed him. He realized that he too was blind 
and could not see Jesus. He knew not how to 
pray and express the agony of his breaking heart. 
Prostrating himself upon the floor, his anguish 
found vent in moans and tears until at last he 
cried out in the very words of Bartimeus, " Jesus, 
thou son of David, have mercy on me," and the 
exile found him whom he sought. 

He remained in New York for some time per- 
fecting himself in his profession ; but his thoughts 
often turned to those dear to him who were igno- 
rant of the saving power of the gospel, and he 
longed to carry to them the message of life. As 
soon as an amnesty was proclaimed he sailed for 
Cuba, but his family were not yet ready to receive 
the truth. When from the depths of his love he 
urged them no longer to trust in form and cere- 
mony, but in Him who is the way, the truth, and 
the life, they were filled with surprise and pity. 
Overwhelmed with distress at his change of view, 
they forbade him to speak to them upon the sub- 
ject. From his mother especially, a woman of 
strong character, unbending will, and a stanch Ro- 
manist, he encountered the most bitter opposition. 
In his anguish at this repulse he thought of his 
friends in the city, some of whom might hear 
though his kinsmen refused. He was not disap- 
pointed. A meeting was arranged for Sunday 



366 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

morning, and to those who assembled Diaz 
preached Jesus and the resurrection. Sunday 
after Sunday these meetings were held ; the inter- 
est deepened, the attendance increased, and some 
found peace in believing. A hall in the city was 
rented and a society organized for religious wor- 
ship. Baptist articles of faith were embodied in 
the constitution, and none but those who had been 
made new creatures in Christ were permitted to 
unite. Thus the Reformed Church of Cuba was 
constituted. The society soon numbered a hun- 
dred members. 

The movement at last attracted the attention of 
the priests, and the people were warned not to 
employ Diaz as a physician. His means of sup- 
port being thus suddenly taken away, the alterna- 
tive of starvation or leaving his field of usefulness 
was presented to him. With a heavy heart he 
sailed for New York, hoping to find some way by 
which he might continue his work in Cuba. The 
hand of God was still leading him. During his 
stay in New York he received a clearer under- 
standing of the way of the Lord, and was baptized 
into the fellowship of the Willoughby Avenue 
Baptist Church, Brooklyn, by Doctor Montgomery. 
The old longing seized him to bear the glad tidings 
to his own people, and while he was anxiously 
looking for an opening he was brought into cor- 
respondence with some noble Christian women in 



THE CUBAN MISSION 36/ 

Philadelphia who wished to support a colporter in 
Cuba. Under an appointment from the American 
Bible Society he was soon again in Cuba among 
his people, scattering Bibles and Testaments and 
preaching on the Sabbath. Persecution arose ; 
Diaz was imprisoned and put in one cell and his 
Bibles in another. But like Peter of old, he 
preached in the prison, and God so blessed him 
that the jailer and the mayor of the city were con- 
verted and Diaz baptized them. He was attacked 
by a mob and shot at, but none of these things 
moved him. He went quietly on with his work, 
and had the joy of seeing his brother and sister 
find the way of life. 

Some Christians from Key West moved back to 
Havana, and finding Christians holding the same 
truths as themselves, wrote to friends in Key 
West. Mr. Wood noticed that Miss Fales seemed 
troubled in mind, and asking the cause of her 
anxiety, learned that she had translated a letter 
from Cuba for her father which said that there 
was a man in Havana named Diaz, who was a 
Baptist and would not obey the church. Mr. 
Wood sent a member of the Key West church to 
Havana to learn the facts, and on his return he 
said that he had found the man Diaz preaching 
on Sunday morning to a large congregation, and 
that he certainly preached Baptist doctrine. These 
facts were reported to the Florida State Board of 



368 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Missions, and at its meeting in July the Board 
borrowed ;^ioo, and instructed Mr. Wood to go 
to Cuba and confer with and encourage the lonely 
missionary. 

He went in September, and finding Miss Minnie 
Diaz, who had been baptized in New York, em- 
ployed her at once to organize a Sunday-school 
and teach a day school. He found Diaz acting 
as pastor of the church, but unable to administer 
the ordinances because unordained, and the church 
composed almost entirely of unbaptized believers. 
Mr. Wood proposed to Mr. Diaz to become a mis- 
sionary of the Southern Baptist Convention and 
bring his work into connection with that body. 
After correspondence between the State Board of 
Florida and Diaz through Mr. Wood, the State 
Convention held in Jacksonville in November in- 
structed the Board to inaugurate a mission in 
Cuba. Diaz consented to become their missionary, 
and met a council of ministers and deacons at 
Key West, where he was ordained December 12, 
1885. 

When the Southern Baptist Convention met in 
Montgomery, in May, 1886, the work in Cuba 
was, after due consideration, placed under the care 
of the Home Mission Board. A Baptist church 
had been regularly constituted in Havana on the 
twenty-sixth of January, 1886, and a baptistery 
constructed in the house of worship, it being 



THE CUBAN MISSION 369 

against the law for Protestants to perform any 
religious act in public. The whole body of be- 
lievers were soon baptized into the fellowship of 
the church. The mother of Diaz, whose opposi- 
tion had melted away as she saw the power of the 
truth exemplified in the lives of her son and 
daughter, but whose pride had made her struggle 
into the light a lonely one, came forward to unite 
with the church. She had not spoken to her son 
for six months, and in his surprise he thought she 
was going to reprove him before the whole assem- 
bly. He walked away, but she followed him and 
cried out, '' Alberto, are you not willing for me to 
join your church ? " His rigid examination brought 
out clearly the genuineness of her repentance and 
the simplicity of her faith. She was the first one 
to enter the water, the first time that Diaz admin- 
istered the ordinance of baptism. In his joy his 
feelings so overcame him that he forgot the for- 
mula, and looking up said simply, *' Here, Lord 
Jesus, this is my mother." 

Strength of character and force of will fitted 
Mrs. Diaz to become a power in the mission. 
She was the moving spirit in an organization of a 
thousand women similar in its plan of work to the 
"King's Daughters." This organization was di- 
vided into circles of ten, with a Baptist woman at 
the head of each, and was engaged in caring for 
the destitute and also in evangelistic work. 

Y 



370 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

The growth of the new faith in Cuba again ex- 
cited the animosity of the Romish Church, but 
when, humanly speaking, the infant interest might 
have been strangled in its cradle, God interposed 
his hand. The loathsome and deadly scourge of 
smallpox broke out in Havana. Thousands fled 
from the plague-smitten city and the poor were 
left to perish unattended. Now was the oppor- 
tunity for the infant church. Diaz, himself a 
skilled physician, called his people together, three 
hundred and fifty in number, and with a courage, 
fortitude, and faith that finds no parallel in the 
history of modern Christianity, they went out to 
do battle with disease and death. When the pesti- 
lence relaxed its grasp one-half of the church slept 
in martyrs' graves in the little Baptist cemetery. 

This cemetery was one of the blessings wrought 
out of sorrow and death. A Baptist from Ken- 
tucky died in Havana, and Diaz, unable to get 
permission to bury him in consecrated ground of 
the Roman Catholic cemetery, succeeded, through 
the American consul, in securing a permit to bury 
him in a sort of '' Potter's Field " connected with the 
cemetery. Diaz was greatly distressed to find the 
grave desecrated by animals, but the priests sneer- 
ingly saying that it was good enough for a heretic 
Baptist. The necessity for a Baptist cemetery 
forced itself upon the mind of Diaz, and when he 
spoke of it to his wife she urged him to offer spe- 



THE CUBAN MISSION 3/1 

cial prayer. That very night their petition went 
up to God that he would give them a Baptist ceme- 
tery. The next morning Diaz was visited by Dea- 
con J. S. Paine, of Boston, who, ignorant of what 
had occurred, proposed to give him ^200 to buy 
land for a cemetery. This sum was not sufficient, 
but it was supplemented by a contribution of $300 
from the Alabama Baptist Convention, and five 
acres of land were bought and the cemetery was 
opened. Every effort was made by the Bishop 
of Havana to prevent the issue of a license for the 
cemetery, on the ground that according to the law 
only a church could own a cemetery; but the cap- 
tain general decided that in the eyes of the law the 
Baptist Church of Havana was as much a church 
as the Catholic Church. The bishop then tried 
by anathemas and threats to prevent the people 
from burying their dead in the Baptist cemetery, 
for he was losing revenue from the Catholic ceme- 
tery. Failing to prevent them, he sent one of his 
emissaries to Diaz to offer him ^20,000 in gold if 
he would close the cemetery and leave Cuba. Diaz 
replied, " You have not enough money in Cuba 
nor in Rome to buy me." Cases in the courts 
were made out against Diaz, but he had able coun- 
sel, acted within the law at every step, and the 
bishop found himself beaten in every case. En- 
raged and desperate, he sent a hundred men, at 
night, who tore up the road leading to the ceme- 



372 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONXENTION 

tery so that it could not be used. Diaz opened a 
new road, and the people continued to patronize 
the heretic cemetery until, within eight months, 
though the charges were not one-tenth of those of 
the Catholic cemetery, all expenses were met and 
^2,400 deposited to the credit of the Home Mis- 
sion Board. Rome was baffled and the cemetery 
was secure. 

The manner in which Diaz met all these varied 
trials, lasting for many months, elicited this well- 
deserved tribute. It was said that he never lost 
his poise, never made a mistake, whether deal- 
ing with the captain-general of Cuba, the con- 
sul-general of the United States, or with his own 
people, sometimes wrought up to desperation. 
He was always the calm and sagacious leader, 
doing the right thing in the right way and at the 
right time. God gave him wisdom and strength 
for the dark days through which he called him to 
pass. 

News of the second arrest and imprisonment of 
Diaz on June 25, 1890, emphasized the fact that 
persecution had not ceased. Diaz, with Rev. 
Angel Godinez, went to Guanabacoa to hold a 
meeting with Rev. Desiderio Herrera, the pastor 
of a new interest. A quiet, orderly congregation 
of about four hundred assembled, but before the 
close of the meeting they were interrupted by the 
police, and the preachers were informed that they 



THE CUBAN MISSION 3/3 

had violated the law. According to Cuban law 
due notice of all religious meetings, except those 
held by Catholics, must be given to the authori- 
ties, the theory being that the priests can thus 
protect the meetings from molestation. The mis- 
sionaries had always been careful to observe this 
law, and, when pastor Herrera had begun to hold 
meetings in November previous, he had given due 
notice. When Diaz appeared before the mayor, 
assured that he was in the right, the official in 
charge informed him that the notice had been 
given, but could not be found. Diaz and his com- 
panions were sent to prison. A thousand people 
followed him, infuriated and ready to mob the 
officer in charge. Diaz had to appear on the bal- 
cony and pacify them. Nineteen hours later the 
notice was found, but the authorities, unwilling to 
acknowledge the injustice done, availed themselves 
of the pretext that one word had been omitted, 
the Cuban law requiring that the name of the man 
in charge be inserted. This notice had been signed 
by Mr. Herrera as pastor. After two days and a 
half of imprisonment they were released on bail, 
but the excitement caused Diaz a sharp attack of 
illness. This incident reacted favorably. The 
liberal press condemned the action of the governor 
of Guanabacoa and defended the Baptist ministers. 
A name closely linked with that of Diaz in the 
early history of the Cuban mission is that of Jose 



374 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

V. Cova, who was ordained to the ministry No- 
vember 1 8, 1888. He is highly educated, speaks 
English unusually well, and has had a profound 
religious experience. God reveal'ed himself to 
him through his words recorded in the Gospel of 
John. During his school life in the United States, 
Mr. Cova had become attached to the Episcopal 
Church, and soon after his return to Cuba an Epis- 
copal mission was established and he was asked 
to aid in its work. He accepted joyfully and 
began studying for ordination. While preparing 
for his journey to Jacksonville to be ordained a 
cablegram announced the death of the Bishop of 
Florida, under whose charge the mission had been 
established. No further help came from that 
State, and the missionary, Mr. Baez, set out for 
Key West to secure aid, leaving Mr. Cova in 
charge of the work. Neither help nor instruction 
came, and, the people believing themselves aban- 
doned, closed the chapels and Mr. Cova retired to 
private life. A few months later, Mr. Cova met 
his old friend and classmate, Diaz, and they had a 
long talk about the new church. Mr. Cova exam- 
ined the tenets of the church, and, to his surprise 
and pleasure, found that they omitted those forms 
which had been repugnant to him in the Episcopal 
Church. He says he was convinced that he was 
in the presence of the Christ's true church and 
lost no time in attaching himself to it. Modest 



THE CUBAN MISSION 37$ 

and retiring in disposition, he goes on quietly with 
his work and is a faithful and devoted missionary. 

Another name associated with the early history 
of the mission is that of Francis Bueno, a good 
preacher, entertaining and instructive. While he 
was pastor of a church in Havana one of his mem- 
bers, who had been reared in San Miguel district, 
asked him to visit his old home and preach to the 
people. He did so. Nearly the whole population 
turned out to meet him, and a second visit was 
solicited. The prospect was so encouraging that 
the mission conference at Havana determined to 
locate Mr. Bueno permanently in San Miguel. A 
day school of fifty scholars was established, taught 
by Mrs. Bueno, an intelligent, consecrated woman. 
Two night schools were also established, one for 
young men and one for young women. A church 
of thirty believers was gathered and the whole 
population brought under the influence of the truth. 
The Catholic Church was so far abandoned that 
the angry priest notified the people that he would 
return no more. 

From the beginning of the work in Havana the 
great need had been a central home for the main 
mission church. The laws permitting Protestant 
worship provide that such worship shall be within 
closed doors, hidden from public view. An inter- 
esting chain of providences led to the supply of 
this need. In 1880 one Jan6 built a theatre de- 



376 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

signed to be a leading place of amusement in the 
city of Havana. It was a noble structure, with 
an iron dome rising eighty feet in the air, and was 
surrounded by an arcade that separated it entirely 
from the street. The location was admirable, a 
corner lot almost in the very center of the city, on 
a street car line, and within half a square of the 
most beautiful park in Havana. The venture was 
not a successful one, and, when Doctor Tichenor 
visited Havana to select a site for the new church, 
the theatre Jane was on the market. After many 
vexatious delays it was purchased by the Home 
Board on most advantageous terms, the price 
paid being ^65,000. The auditorium was ad- 
mirably adapted for church purposes and other 
rooms in the building could be rented to advan- 
tage. 

In February, 1891, a large party sailed from 
Tampa to witness the dedication of the Gethsem- 
ane Baptist Church, of Havana, Cuba. Trans- 
formed for its new uses, it was dedicated February 
15. A description of the interior by one of the 
visitors tells of moldings in delicate tracery, of 
walls frescoed in tasteful designs, on the panels of 
which the letters stand boldly out, ^^ Dios es 
Amor," ''God is Love." The proscenium arch, 
broad and high, faces the entrance, and contains 
the pulpit platform. An open baptistery stretches 
from end to end of the arch, lined in front by 



THE CUBAN MISSION 377 

natural rocks and framed behind by living plants. 
A tropical scene fills in the rear, so that on a bap- 
tismal occasion the appearance is as if it were 
under the free heavens and in the Master's own 
land. 

The morning service on the day of dedication 
was in English, and the house was well filled, many 
of the auditors being American guests of the ad- 
jacent hotels. The exercises were conducted by 
Doctor Tichenor, corresponding secretary of the 
Home Mission Board, while Dr. Lansing Burrows 
and Dr. J. B. Hawthorne delivered the addresses, 
which aimed at a synopsis of Baptist doctrine. 
The former touched upon the vital difference ex- 
isting between the true Christianity of the Bible 
and the crude and partial type visible in Roman 
Catholic countries. The latter treated of the doc- 
trines of faith, of obedience as the index of faith, 
and of the liberated conscience, untrammeled by 
the dictates of temporal power. Pastor Diaz at- 
tempted to follow with a brief address, but his 
emotion visibly overcame him. 

The great house was filled for the Spanish 
service in the evening. Native Cubans and 
resident Spaniards thronged the galleries, about 
twenty judges of the various courts, with lawyers 
and merchants, were present, and upon the faces 
of vast numbers character and intelligence were 
stamped. Pastor Cova, of the Pilar Church, spoke 



3/8 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

first, from the closing chapters of Luke's Gospel. 
Rev. H. M. King, of Key West, in whose church 
the first mission work in Cuba was planned, fol- 
lowed in an English address, giving an account of 
the inception of the enterprise. The address of 
Signor Chomat, one of the judges who spoke as 
representing the general population, was said to be 
very remarkable, sounding no uncertain note of op- 
position to Romish exactions, lauding the principle 
of soul liberty, and extending hearty assurances of 
friendship to the American Baptists, who had 
achieved so signal a triumph. Although the large 
audience was somewhat weary when Diaz arose to 
deliver the closing address, he soon aroused them 
to his own enthusiastic pitch and by his fervid ut- 
terances moved them to tears, then lifted them to 
the heights of religious fervor. His theme was, 
" For mine eyes have seen thy salvation." One 
who witnessed it said, the apostle of Cuba never 
appeared so great and noble and consecrated as in 
this hour of his triumph, when, his soul aflame 
with emotion, he beheld the consummation of his 
hopes. 

Day schools became an important factor in the 
evangelization of the island, and as they increased 
in number and usefulness a high school became a 
necessity. In this school higher education under 
Christian influences was given to the children of 
Protestants, and indeed to any who wished to at- 



THE CUBAN MISSION 379 

tend. It was designed to train young women as 
teachers and mission workers, and it was soon 
filled with bright, intelligent girls. Diaz exercised 
a wise precaution in the selection of girls for the 
high school, only receiving such as he was assured 
would remain long enough to receive an education 
which would fit them for greater usefulness. A 
legal contract was entered into with the parents 
which secured this end. A fourth part of the 
church building was occupied for school purposes 
and a few pupils were received as boarders. Some 
industrial training was also given, and in a singular 
way sewing machines were provided for the girls. 
Diaz, his wife and mother, had made this need a 
subject of special prayer. A few days later, at an 
evening meeting, the collector handed Diaz an en- 
velope containing a Spanish bill for five hundred 
dollars, with a slip enclosed signed by an unbeliever, 
saying. Take this and buy sewing machines for the 
girls' school. Diaz hesitated to use the money, 
but it occurred to him that God sent ravens to 
feed Elijah, and the same God had sent this money 
by an unbeliever to meet a pressing need. The 
machines were bought, and were soon furnishing 
means to support the poor girls whom Diaz had 
undertaken to educate. 

Soon after Diaz broadened his work by founding 
a hospital for women and children. He had had 
this object before him for nearly two years, and had 



380 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

received from a gentleman living across the street 
from the church a gift of about an acre and a half 
of land, worth about ^10,000, on one of the finest 
avenues in the city, as a site for the hospital. As 
a beginning, several rooms in the rear of the church 
were fitted up for offices and consulting rooms, and 
a large room was furnished with cots for those pa- 
tients who must remain at the hospital. Diaz se- 
cured the services of five of the best physicians and 
surgeons, who entered into the work with enthusi- 
asm. From twenty to thirty patients were treated 
daily. Thus the first woman's hospital in this city 
of a quarter of a million inhabitants was opened, 
and proved successful, not only from a medical 
standpoint, but as affording many opportunities for 
teaching the gospel. 

The Baptists of Cuba began to enjoy greater 
freedom, persecution almost entirely ceased, and 
the authorities, both civil and ecclesiastical, treated 
them with unwonted consideration and respect. 
The kindly feeling of the government was mani- 
fested by the fact that Baptist church property was 
put on the same basis with property belonging to 
the established church. The attitude of the public 
toward the Baptist mission in Havana proved that 
it commanded attention, sympathy, and respect. 
The rapid increase of the work demanded more 
missionaries. New converts must be visited and 
guided in the new paths, and candidates for bap- 



THE CUBAN MISSION 38 1 

tism must be watched over and instructed. No 
other Cubans were available, and the Board de- 
cided to send an American to Havana. Rev. E. 
Pendleton Jones was appointed, but after spending 
the winter of 1893 -1894 on the island, his physi- 
cian advised him to return to the United States. 

When Cuba's struggle for freedom began, there 
were on the island about two thousand eight hundred 
church-members. Diaz had charge of the central 
church in Havana, with a membership of more than 
a thousand. The second church was presided 
over by Rev. J. R. O'Halloran, who had estab- 
lished two missions before his ordination to the 
ministry. He had a fine congregation and excel- 
lent day and Sunday-schools. Rev. J. V. Cova 
had charge of the third church, located in the Pilar 
district. It had two hundred members and a large 
school. The San Miguel church, of one hundred 
and fifty members, with a very good school, was 
in charge of Rev. Francis P. Bueno. This body 
of believers owned a little wooden building built by 
themselves. Other earnest workers, not in charge 
of churches, were J. M. Porta, Paul Valdes, and M. 
Calejo. A number of consecrated women also 
gave their time and strength to missionary work. 
Notable among these were Diaz' wife and mother, 
also his sisters, Misses Minnie and Clotilda, the 
wife, mother, and daughter of Mr. Cova, Mrs. 
O'Halloran, Mrs. Bueno, Miss Josephine Bethen- 



382 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

court, and Miss Julia Lozano. An enlargement of 
the work was in contemplation when the revolt 
against Spanish rule began to interfere seriously 
with its progress. 

The appointment of General Weyler to succeed 
General Campos as commander of the Spanish 
army in Cuba spread terror throughout the city, 
and many of the church-members either went into 
the interior or left the island. As the year 1896, 
advanced, one after another of the missionaries 
was forced to leave the island ; but flight meant a 
change of field, for they lost no time in beginning 
work among their countrymen in the United 
States. It had previously been arranged that, if 
obliged to leave the island, Mr. Cova should go to 
Tampa, and Mr. O'Halloran to Key West, and 
open work among the thousands of Cubans in 
those cities. A year previous Diaz had inaugu- 
rated the Red Cross work for the benefit of the 
soldiers on both sides. For a time it met with 
the approval of the government and he was able 
to carry it on unmolested. Even after he was 
compelled to give up the Red Cross work Diaz 
remained on the island until the other missionaries 
had gone. He was preparing to leave when he 
was arrested and thrown into prison on the night 
of April 15, 1896. As soon as the news reached 
the Home Board, vigorous measures were under- 
taken for his release. In this crisis his American 



THE CUBAN MISSION 383 

citizenship was a mighty safeguard. Stimulated 
by the pressure brought to bear the United States 
government took prompt action and Diaz was re- 
leased April 22. His identification with the cause 
of Cuban independence rendered it expedient that 
for the sake of the Baptist property in Havana 
his connection with the Board should be severed. 
He labored for a time under the auspices of the 
American Baptist Publication Society in Mexico, 
and, when the war broke out between the United 
States and Spain, went with the invading army 
into Cuba. 

Mr. Cova's work among the fifteen thousand 
Cubans in Tampa was very successful, though at 
first beset with many difficulties. He organized a 
Sunday-school, which increased to an attendance of 
one hundred and sixty, while the free day school 
had about one hundred and fifteen scholars. A 
no less important work was the formation of a 
committee for the relief of the unfortunate and 
starving Cuban refugees. This committee fed as 
many as seven hundred persons twice a day, be- 
sides providing clothing and medicine for a large 
number. The work grew rapidly, the mission 
house was soon too small to hold the audiences, 
and almost every meeting witnessed conversions. 
Mr. Calejo shared Mr. Cova's labors, opening a 
mission in West Tampa. Messrs. O'Halloran and 
Bueno conducted a successful work in Key West. 



384 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

The Cuban chapel built by the Home Board some 
years before was used as a day school and a place 
of worship, and numbers of the exiles were 
brought under the teaching of the gospel. As 
soon as peace was declared Mr. O'Halloran sailed 
for Santiago to resume mission work on the island 
of Cuba. 

Suffering and privation were the lot of the Bap- 
tists of Havana during the war, but through it all 
Sunday-schools, weekly prayer meetings, and Sun- 
day services were maintained. The devoted 
women of the churches were unflagging in their 
interest, and not only maintained the work but 
promoted its progress. In this time of stress and 
trial only one of those closely associated with the 
mission was called to rest from his labors, Dr. 
Edward Belot, the valued agent of the Board. 
Doctor Belot had represented the Board for a long 
time, and under trying circumstances, his services 
being a freewill offering to Baptist missions in 
Cuba. 

As soon as peace with Spain was concluded the 
Cuban missionaries became anxious to return to 
the island. On September 5, 1898, Mr. O'Hallo- 
ran and his wife landed in Santiago, and amid 
many privations and trials entered upon the work. 
He found an enthusiastic helper in Rev. D. H. 
Parker, a chaplain in the United States army. 
At the earnest solicitation of Mr. Parker, he went 



THE CUBAN MISSION 385 

to Guantanamo to hold a meeting. A number of 
people gathered in the afternoon for the service. 
Mr. O'Halloran read the story of Philip and the 
eunuch and preached by comment. In response 
to his thrilling appeal to make confession of sin 
and accept Christ, twenty arose, sixteen of whom 
were baptized at sunset. At the evening service 
these sixteen were organized into a church, a 
preacher was ordained, and the Lord's Supper 
administered. The doors of the church were 
opened and twenty-seven candidates were received 
for baptism. Mr. O'Halloran also organized a 
church in Santiago, and was prosecuting his work 
most successfully when, by the action of the con- 
ference between the American Baptist Home Mis- 
sion Society and the Home Mission Board, the 
province of Santiago was transferred to the former 
society. The church in Santiago was turned over 
to Mr. H. R. Moseley, the representative of the 
Home Mission Society, and Mr. O'Halloran was 
removed to the equally promising field of Cien- 
fuegos. The terms of the agreement entered 
into by the conference designated that the Home 
Mission Society should prosecute its work in 
Porto Rico and two provinces of Cuba, while the 
Home Board should confine its efforts to the re- 
maining provinces of Cuba. 

In November, 1898, a committee from the Home 
Board consisting of the corresponding secretary, 



386 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

Doctor Tichenor, Hon. Porter King, chairman of 
the committee on Cuba, and Dr. E. L. Connelly, 
visited Cuba to investigate the mission interests. 
They found the mission on the whole in an encour- 
aging condition, and were able to suggest remedies 
for some evils which had arisen during the period 
of lawlessness. They found an attendance of five 
hundred at the Sunday evening service in the 
Gethsemane Church. In the two months previous 
Diaz had baptized fifty converts, many of whom 
had professed conversion prior to his return to 
Cuba, and could be looked upon as the fruits of the 
seed-sowing done by the faithful men and women 
who carried on the work throughout the war. 
While the committee was in Cuba Diaz resigned 
the pastorate of the Gethsemane Church because 
the American Baptist Publication Society, in whose 
employ he was, advised him that it could not con- 
tinue its relations with him as the regular pastor 
of a church, as it was contrary to its rules. At 
the suggestion of the committee action on the 
resignation was deferred, and after consultation 
with Diaz, the committee explained to the church 
that it expected to recommend to the Board the 
payment of a large part of Diaz* salary as pastor, 
if certain matters of detail could be adjusted. As 
the Board could not afford to pay him as much as 
he was getting from the Publication Society, the 
church was called on to know if it would raise 



THE CUBAN MISSION 3^7 

the difference, and also pay a part of all its inci- 
dental expenses. No definite pledge was made, 
but the church promised to contribute all it could, 
and there was unanimous desire for Diaz' reten- 
tion. In the correspondence which followed some 
misapprehension arose on the part of the church 
in regard to the proposition from the Board. 
Doctor Tichenor and Mr. King again visited Cuba, 
and laid before a committee from the church the 
grievances the Board had experienced in conse- 
quence of the church's appeal to various bodies 
in the United States asking their approval of its 
course. After a frank discussion of the situation, 
the misapprehensions were cleared away and the 
proposals of the Board, with some slight modifica- 
tions, were accepted. 

The present outlook in Cuba is encouraging. 
Mr. Cova is doing excellent work at Matanzas. 
He has a fine congregation of intelligent, well-to- 
do people and has frequent baptisms. Mr. Cova 
is a scholarly and able preacher, and has done ex- 
cellent service in the translation and circulation 
of tracts and other literature. In the autumn of 
1899 Mr. Cova baptized Mr. Cabrera, a Methodist 
preacher, whose views had undergone a change. 
Mr. Cabrera is now in charge of a mission at 
Santa Clara, and is well spoken of by all who 
know him. Through Mr. Cabrera's influence an- 
other Methodist of twenty-nine years' standing 



388 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

was brought to the Baptist faith, Mr. Angel True- 
bano, a Bible colporter and an exhorter in the 
Methodist church, an American citizen, and a man 
of some culture. As he studied the Bible the 
conviction forced itself upon him that infant bap- 
tism was not valid, and hearing that Mr. Cova had 
discussed the subject at prayer meeting, he prayed 
Mr. Cabrera to take him to him for a discussion of 
the question. The scriptural basis for rejecting 
infant baptism was explained to him, showing that 
faith, regeneration, and conversion must precede 
baptism. When the exhortation of Ananias to 
Saul was read, ^' And now why tarriest thou ? arise 
and be baptized," the man started up and cried 
out, " I will. All my doubts have vanished. I 
see all clear, through divine grace. I mean to be 
baptized straightway." As Mr. Cova quaintly said, 
on that very day he was buried in the waters of 
obedience. Mr. Truebano had been preaching for 
some time in a private house in Havana, and had 
received as candidates for church-membership about 
forty persons, who he said would be taught to 
confess Christ by receiving what he now knew to 
be Christian baptism. 

Mr. O Halloran at this writing is conducting a 
flourishing work in Cienfuegos, besides overlook- 
ing the work at Santa Clara. He is an enthusiastic, 
evangelistic preacher and a man of wonderful zeal 
and energy. He is very successful in soul-win^ 



THE CUBAN MISSION 389 

ning, and reported for the year 1899 one hundred 
and thirty-four baptisms. His chapel is packed to 
overflowing at the services, and a more convenient 
house is greatly needed. His wife is his valuable 
assistant. The mission at Sagua La Grande, one 
of the most aristocratic and cultured cities on the 
island, is in charge of Dr. E. F. Rodriguez, a 
prominent practising physician. Doctor Rodri- 
guez is a man of superior intellectual and social 
gifts and a consecrated Christian. He was bap- 
tized by Mr. O'Halloran about two years ago, and 
was ordained to the ministry in January, 1900. 
He renders most efficient services as pastor and 
superintendent of the mission without any com- 
pensation from the Board. At Havana Doctor 
Diaz labored with fourteen assistants, broadening 
out his work toward the cities and towns contigu- 
ous to Havana and reporting frequent baptisms. 
The Gethsemane Church continues to be the cen- 
ter of this work. Ten stations for schools and 
Sunday-schools well located in different parts 
of the city are maintained in connection with it. 
In the autumn of 1901 Doctor Diaz resigned from 
the service of the Board. While this indefatig- 
able, earnest man may be no longer in the employ 
of the Board, it is probable that he will remain in 
Christian work in Havana, and it is hoped that he 
will continue to be a power for the maintenance 
of Christian Baptist principles in his native land. 



390 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

In the year 1900 the Board made a new depar- 
ture by appointing two women missionaries to Cuba. 
These, Miss Mary Taylor, of Florida, and Miss 
Adalee Branham, of Missouri, are supported by 
the women of their respective States. January, 
1 901, found them in the city of Havana acquiring 
the language, teaching in the mission schools, and 
carrying the gospel message from house to house. 
For some time the Board had felt that it was es- 
sential to the best interests of the work in Cuba 
to have at least one American in connection with 
the mission. The number of English-speaking 
people in Havana demanded one who could preach 
in English. There was also urgent need of a man 
understanding both English and Spanish who could 
be in close touch with our own people and also 
with the native Christians on the island. The 
man was found in Rev. C. D. Daniel, of Texas, 
who was for five years an employee of the Foreign 
Mission Board in Brazil, and after his return la- 
bored among the Mexicans in Texas. Mr. Daniel 
is an experienced worker, and entered upon his 
work highly recommended by his former colleagues 
in Brazil and Texas. After visiting the island 
Mr. Daniel reported that in his opinion the great- 
est need of the work was a chapel at every one of 
the mission stations. His report is corroborated 
by the independent testimony of every one of the 
native missionaries. 



THE CUBAN MISSION 39I 

Cordial relations exist between the Board and 
the brethren and sisters in Havana, and the work 
seems to be re-established on a firm and satisfac- 
tory basis, though American occupation of Cuba 
has not been wholly helpful to missionary effort. The 
strained relations between the Unites States gov- 
ernment and the people of the island have ren- 
dered less efficient the efforts of the missionaries 
to reach the people with the gospel. Until the 
questions at issue are settled the missionaries must 
work and wait patiently. Legally Cuba is now as 
open to the gospel as our own land. We have 
freed her from the yoke of Spain, shall we not 
with redoubled patience, and energy, and enthusi- 
asm endeavor to free the souls of her people from 
the more pernicious and deadly despotism of Roman 
Catholicism ? 



XVII 

CLOSING WORDS 

IN reviewing the history of the Convention no 
period excites more interest than the first 
twenty years of its existence. The sense of self- 
dependence engendered by the separation from 
their Northern brethern aroused Southern Bap- 
tists to the consideration of their own resources, 
which they found ample to inaugurate and prose- 
cute a great and ever-widening work. As an illus- 
tration of the growth of interest and consequent 
increase of contributions, it is noteworthy that in 
1849 the Domestic Mission Board received about 
^9,500, while in 1859 ^^^ contributions amounted 
to almost three times as much, something over 
^28,400. Contributions to the Foreign Mission 
Board in 1846 amounted to ;^i 1,700, while 1^39,800 
was received in 1859. 

Amid the strife and desolation of the Civil War 
this period of the Convention's history closed. 
The Foreign Mission Board was greatly crippled 
in* its operations, but the devotion and sacrifice of 
some of the missionaries and of loyal brethren in 
Maryland and Kentucky averted disaster. The 
392 



CLOSING WORDS 393 

Domestic Mission Board, cut off almost entirely 
from other avenues of usefulness, devoted its at- 
tention chiefly to the soldiers in the Southern 
armies, where a successful work was accom- 
plished. 

The Convention passed through the darkest 
period of its history during the years after the 
close of the Civil War. Poverty and distress fol- 
lowed in the wake of desolation. "Almost every- 
thing was destroyed except the courage of the 
people." In the struggle going on everywhere for 
the necessities of life, it was natural that religious 
interests should suffer. Church buildings had 
been dismantled through military occupancy or 
the violence of the conflict, and in many cases it 
was doubtful whether it would ever be possible 
to restore them. In this period of uncertainty 
and anxiety colored Baptists retired from the 
churches of their white brethren. This separa- 
tion was inevitable and was accomplished with 
mutual good-will. The trials and repression of 
the era of reconstruction followed close on the 
desolation and distress of war. The ten years of 
confusion entailed by the policy followed brought 
upon the Southern people privations and anxieties 
scarcely less than those they endured during the 
years of conflict. In the midst of the struggle 
against adverse circumstances the South had to 
meet the financial panic which overtook the coun- 



394 MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

try in 1873, and whose results were felt keenly 
for several years. 

The desire for change, however great the un- 
certainty as to its beneficent results, always fol- 
lows a long period of depression. This desire 
took possession of Southern Baptists, and various 
plans were proposed to alter the existing methods 
of work. At this time the Domestic Mission 
Board passed through the crisis of its history. 
Several of the States organized mission Boards to 
care for their own territory, and some State Con- 
ventions passed resolutions by which the Board 
should be excluded from their boundaries, while 
other States entered into co-operation with other 
Societies situated in other sections of the country. 
The suggestion of merging it into the Foreign 
Mission Board was made as early as 1871 on the 
plea that it would be more economical to maintain 
a single Board, which should prosecute both home 
and foreign missions. Though the suggestion 
was defeated, the discussion incident to it did not 
promote the vigor of the Board. 

The outlook was a gloomy one. Disintegrating 
forces were everywhere at work and threatened 
the very existence of the Convention. The most 
momentous controversy in the history of the Con- 
vention was waged in Atlanta, Ga., in 1879, when 
an impressive preamble and two resolutions were 
proposed, which, though couched in diplomatic 



CLOSING WORDS 395 

terms, were generally understood to relate mainly 
to the question of "preserving our separate or- 
ganization." The matter was referred to a com- 
mittee of one from each State, and, when it came 
up for discussion, Dr. John A. Broadus, of Ken- 
tucky, moved to strike out the two resolutions. 
After a debate which lasted throughout the day, 
the motion was carried and an amended resolution 
was substituted, as follows : 

Resolved, That five brethren be appointed by this Con- 
vention to bear to our Baptist brethren of the Northern 
States, at their approaching anniversaries, expressions of 
our fraternal regard and assurances that, while holding 
firmly to the wisdom and policy of preserving our separate 
organizations, we are ready, as in the past, to co-operate 
cordially with them in promoting the cause of Christ in our 
own and foreign lands. 

Again disaster was averted. The issue was 
quietly closed and a new era of unity and vigorous 
life dawned upon the Convention. During this 
period of uncertainty the Foreign Mission Board 
was the ''steadiest prop of the Convention." It 
had always enlisted sympathy and interest through- 
out the South and was thus enabled to exhibit 
remarkable prosperity. So long as this work re- 
mained intact it presented a strong argument for 
the continuance of the Convention. With the 
year 1880 the receipts of the Foreign Mission 
Board began to grow apace. Fields already occu- 



39^ MISSIONARY WORK OF S. B. CONVENTION 

pied were reinforced and improved, while missions 
were undertaken in fields hitherto unoccupied, 
and foreign missions became yet more firmly en- 
trenched in the hearts of Southern Baptists. The 
years 1 892-1 893 witnessed the enthusiasm and 
greatly enlarged contributions of the Carey Cen- 
tennial of Modern Missions, in the strength of 
which a hundred new missionaries were sent out 
by the Foreign Mission Board. High-water mark 
was reached and the Home and Foreign Boards 
felt the inevitable ebb. The most strenuous effort 
failed to meet the increased obligations, and the 
Boards were hampered with debt until 1 898, when 
both closed the year with a balance in the treasury. 
Contributions to both Boards have steadily in- 
creased since 1898. The Foreign Board has 
greatly enlarged its missionary force, and the 
Home Board has been enabled to extend the work 
already established and to enter new fields of use- 
fulness. 

Looking back over fifty-six years of missionary 
effort, and remembering all the way by which the 
Lord has led them. Southern Baptists can say 
with grateful hearts, ^'Hitherto hath the Lord 
helped us." Looking forward, the new century 
beckons with ever-widening opportunities : " Ask 
of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine 
inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth 
for thy possession." 



MISSIONARIES OF S. B. CONVENTION 



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LIST OF AUTHORITIES CONS ULTED 



"Minutes of the Southern Baptist Convention," from 1845 
to 1901. 

"Foreign Missions of the Southern Baptist Convention," 
Tupper. 

"A Decade of Foreign Missions," Tupper. 

"A History of the Baptists in the Southern States East of 
the Mississippi," Riley. 

"A History of American Baptist Missions," Merriam. 

"The Historical Sketch of the Southern Baptist Conven- 
tion, 1 845-1 885," J. Lansing Burrows. 

* ' Historical Discourse on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the 
Southern Baptist Convention," W. H. Whitsitt. 

Leaflets from Baptist Mission Rooms, Baltimore, Md. 

Foreign Mission Journals, Richmond, Va. 

Our Home Fields, Atlanta, Ga. 

Pamphlets and Other Sources. 



GENERAL INDEX 



Africa : imploring aid for mis- 
sions, 148; large portions un- 
touched by gospel, 149 ; interior 
of, explored by Mr. Phillips, 150 ; 
work in, pointed out by Mr. 
Yates, 151 ; attention of Mission 
Board called to, 154 ; Mr. Bowen 
exploring interior of, 156 ; spe- 
cial interest awakened in, 157 ; 
petty wars in, 162 ; appeals for 
missionaries to, 168 ; twelve 
years' work in, 169 ; stirring ap- 
peal for, 170 ; sad losses con- 
nected with missions to, 180. 

Alabama: resolutions, known as, 
4 ; convention of, in correspond- 
ence, 5 ; convention of, address- 
ing inquiry, 6 ; joining in wom- 
en's work, 19 ; Baptist Bible So- 
ciety of, 27. 

Board, Bible : organized, 12, 24 ; en- 
listing in arduous task, 25 ; aim 
of, 25, 26 ; States co-operating 
with, 26 ; receipts of, small, 26 ; 
instructions of Convention to, 
27 ; affected by Civil War, 28 ; 
contracting for Bibles, 28; dis- 
solution of, 29. 

Board, Foreign Mission : prod- 
ucts of, 10 ; recommending com- 
mittees in women's work, 14 ; at- 
tention of, called to China, 43 ; 
opening mission at Shanghai, 
79 ; first to hold property in in- 
terior of China, 86 ; and north 
China, 112; differences of, with 
Doctor Crawford, 131, 132; and 
plans of missionaries, 133 ; en- 



tering on work in Liberia, 144 ; 
authorizing schools at Monro- 
via, 146 ; establishing a mission 
at Sierra Leone, 147 ; resump- 
tion of work of, in Liberia after 
Civil War, 149 ; attention of, 
called to Yoruba, 154 ; appealing 
for funds for Yoruba, 164 ; at- 
tention of, called to Italy, 181 ; 
accepting Doctor Cote, 181 ; dis- 
continuing services of Doctor 
Cote, 186 ; looking toward Cen- 
tral and South America, 213 ; 
appointing missionaries to Bra- 
zil, 214 ; Mr. Flournoy appointed 
by, missionary to Mexico, 247 ; 
enlarging its work in Mexico, 
270 ; requested to look at Japan, 
272; held back by Civil War, 
272 ; instructed by Convention to 
begin work in Japan, 273 ; co-op- 
erating with Missionary Union 
in Japan, 273, 274 ; attention of, 
directed to Cuba, 361 ; enlarging 
missionary force, 396. 
Board, Home Mission : encoun- 
tering vicissitudes, 10 ; removed 
to Atlanta, 11 ; absorbing Indian 
Mission Board, 11 ; women's 
work suggested by, 19 ; loan 
fund of, securing gifts from wom- 
en, 22; vast field assigned to, 
283; efforts of, hampered, 284; 
results from work of, 284 ; im- 
portance of evangelizing cities 
emphasized by, 285 ; carry- 
ing out instructions of Con- 
vention in New Orleans, 287 ; 
making effort to pay indebted' 

405 



4o6 



GENERAL INDEX 



ness in Coliseum Place Church, 
288; work of, retarded by yel- 
low fever, 289 ; eutering Califor- 
nia field, 290, 291 ; relieved by 
self-supporting churches, 291 ; 
work of, suspended by war, 292 ; 
entering on army work, 292, 293 ; 
notable men engaged by, for 
army work, 294 ; discourage- 
ment and help for, 294, 295 ; ex- 
tent of work by, in army, 294; 
expending much money in New 
Orleans, 295 ; regaining its foot- 
ing after Civil War, 296; its 
darkest period, 296, 297 ; epi- 
demic hindering work of, 297 ; 
report of, to Convention, 297; 
renewed work by, in New Or- 
leans, 299, 300 ; removal of, 301 ; 
instructed by Convention as to 
extending aid, 301 ; establishing 
Building Loan Fund, 302, 303; 
fortieth annual report of, best 
in its history, 304; important 
work of, in mountain regions, 
305, 306 ; extension of work of, 
306 ; maintaining close relations 
to State Boards, 307 ; a review 
of, work of, 308; efforts of, 
blessed in North Carolina, 309 ; 
complications in work of, 
310 : faithful efforts of, 311 ; in- 
structed by Convention as to 
work among Negroes, 312; de- 
sirous of aiding Negroes up- 
ward, 318 ; co-operating with 
Home Mission Society, 319 ; con- 
centrating on Negro instruction, 
320 ; employing colored mission- 
aries, 321 ; agreeing with Home 
Home Mission Society at Fort- 
ress Monroe, 323-325 ; assuming 
expense of schools among Ne- 
gro women, 327 ; finding work 
in California difficult and aban- 
doning it, 332 ; conducting work 
among Germans in conjunction 
with State Boards, 336 ; planting 



mission in south St. Louis, 336 
Indian work transferred to, 340 
indebtedness assumed by, 341 
appeal to, from Choctaws, 342 
resuming work among Indians 
after Civil War, 349; assuming 
work among the Seminoles, 351, 
352 ; encountering complications 
in Indian Territory, 359, 360; 
reaching adjustment with Home 
Mission Society, 360 ; Cuba placed 
under care of, 368 ; sending com- 
mittee to Cuba, 385, 386 ; appoint- 
ing women missionaries to Cuba, 
390 ; prosperity for, 396. 

Board, Sunday-school and Publica- 
tion : organized, 12, 29 ; encoun- 
tering difiiculties, 30 ; Doctoi 
Broadus secured as Secretary of 
30 ; and American Bible Society 
31 ; first publications of, 32 
securing earnest workers, 32 
more active operations of, 33 
depleted treasury of, 33; Dr. 
C. C. Bitting made secretary 
of, 34 ; issuing hymn books, 35 ; 
uniting with Sabbath-school 
Union, 35 ; united to Domestic 
Board, 36; changed to Sunday- 
school Board, 38 ; Doctor Frost 
made secretary of, 38, 39 ; Doc- 
tor Bell secretary of, 39; intro- 
ducing Home Department, 40; 
publications of, 40; a mission- 
ary organization, 41. 

Broadus, Dr. J. A. : secretary of 
Sunday-school Board, 30; en- 
gaging in army work, 294 ; avert- 
ing disaster from Convention, 
395. 

Bushyhead, Rev. John, retire- 
ment of as missionary, 3. 

Canton: house of worship at, 45; 
Messrs. Clopton and Pearcy mis- 
sionaries at, 45 ; mission opened 
at, 46; Mr. and Mrs. Whildin 
sent to, 47 ; opportunities to 



GENERAL INDEX 



407 



reach students at, 52 ; work of 
Doctor Graves at, 49-54 ; mission 
at, severely tried, 59 ; additional 
missionaries landed at, 60 ; be- 
reaved by loss of Doctor Graves, 
61 ; Doctor Mabie visits Doctor 
Graves at, 63 ; Doctor Graves 
again leaves, 66 ; Chow Leung 
pastor of church at, 74. 

Colver, Nathaniel, opposing Doc- 
tor Fuller's resolution, 2. 

Convention, Southern Baptist : or- 
ganized, 18; its expressed pur- 
pose, 9 ; changes from Triennial 
Convention, 9 ; reluctance of, to 
engage in distinct Bible work, 
23 ; instructing Bible Board, 27 ; 
inquiring into the union of Bible 
Board with Southern Publica- 
tion Society, 28 ; visited by Chi- 
nese missionaries, 44 ; designat- 
ing missionaries, 87 ; meeting of, 
in 1874, 98; entering on corre- 
spondence as to work in Liberia, 
144 ; authorizing mission to Bra- 
zil, 214 ; encouraged by reports 
from Brazil, 217; Brazil most 
fruitful field of, 245 ; decision of, 
to open mission in Mexico, 246 ; 
missions of, in Mexico consoli- 
dated, 258 ; deciding to enlarge 
its work in Mexico, 269; in- 
structing Board as to Japan, 273 ; 
interested in New Orleans, 286 ; 
directing Home Board to work 
in California, 290 ; spirit of prog- 
ress in, 291; Home Board's re- 
port to, 297 ; attention of, again 
called to New Orleans, 298; in- 
structing Home Board as to 
church building loan fund, 302, 
303 ; instructing Home Board as 
to State Boards, 307 ; instructing 
Board of Domestic Missions as 
to Negroes, 312 ; adopting report 
on Negro work, 324, 325; work 
in California outside of the ter- 
titory of, 332 ; receiving proposi- 



tion to take Indian work, 340; 
establishing manual training 
school among Creeks, 352, 353 ; 
assuming work in Cuba, 368; 
work of, reviewed, 392 ; its dark- 
est period, 393; disintegration 
of, threatened, 394; disaster 
averted from, 395 ; strong argu- 
ment for, 395. 

Convention, Triennial : resolution 
offered in, 2; last meeting of, 
3; attitude toward slavery, 4; 
States going from, 8; change 
from, in Southern Baptist Con- 
ventioUf 9; sending first mis- 
sionary to China, 42. 

Cote, Dr. W. N. : accepted as mis- 
sionary, 181 ; went as Protestant 
missionary to Rome, 181; work 
vigorously pushed by, 183 ; con- 
nection with Mission Board 
severed, 186. 

Crawford, Doctor and Mrs. : at 
Tungchow, 115 ; situation of, at, 
116 ; organized Pai Tong Baptist 
Church, 116 ; hard work and lit- 
tle success for, 126 ; appeals 
from, for help responded to, 
128 ; differences of, with Foreign 
Mission Board, 131, 132. 

Diaz, Alberto J. : Surrounded by 
his enemies, 363 ; finding his way 
to New York, 364 ; converted and 
baptized, 365, 866; imprisoned, 
367; ordained, 368; baptizing his 
mother, 369 ; acquiring a ceme- 
tery, 371 ; commending himself, 
372 ; persecution of, again, 372, 
373; pastor of Gethsemane 
Church, 377 ; founds an hospital, 
379 ; thrown into prison, 382 ; ad- 
justing relations, 386; broaden- 
ing work, 389 ; present relations 
of, 389. 

Frost, Dr. J. M. : reporting on 
Sunday-school organization, 37 ; 



4o8 



GENERAL INDEX 



made secretary of Sunday-school 
Board, 38; resigned secretary- 
ship, 39. 
Fuller, Richard : offering resolu- 
tion, 2; and American Bible 
Society, 30, 31. 

Hartwell, Rev. J. B. : settled at 
Tungchow, China, 113 ; at Shang- 
hai, 115; opening a mission at 
Hwanghien, 117 ; services of, at 
Tungchow, 11 7 ; v^^if e of, intro- 
ducing vaccination, 118 ; return- 
ing to America, 120 ; again as- 
suming work in China, 122 ; 
removing to Chefoo, 123 ; return- 
ing to America again, 123 ; again 
at Tungchow, 136; working 
among Chinese in California, 
330, 331. 

Jeter, Dr. J. B. : on Bible distri- 
bution, 24. 

Manly, Basil, Sr., author of query 
from Tuscaloosa Church, 4. 

Mission, The South China: mis- 
sionaries assigned to, 43 ; some 
stations belonging to, 55, 57, 58 ; 
advance in enterprises of, 63 ; 
results of, 63 ; causes for rejoic- 
ing in, 64; reasons for encour- 
agement regarding, 68 ; field of, 
70 ; reinforcements to, 70 ; efforts 
for self-help in, 71 ; mission boat 
in connection with, 71 ; advance 
all along the line of, 72 ; larger 
number of baptisms reported 
from, 75. 

Mission, Central China : opened 
at Shanghai, 79; Mr. and Mrs. 
Yates arriving at Shanghai, 79; 
Tai Ping rebellion in connection 
with, 89 ; discouragements con- 
nected with, 96 ; Baptist church 
organized at Soochow, 100; rein- 
forcements to, 101 ; claims of, 
on North Carolina, 103 ; new 



methods of work in, 104 ; rein- 
forcements to, 105 ; Baptist con- 
ference organized in, 106 ; school 
work a feature of, 108 ; valuable 
workers added to, 109; Boxer 
troubles in connection with, 111 ; 
difficulties of, HI. 

Mission, North China : established 
at Tungchow, 113; people ap- 
pealed to by, 117 ; interest-deep- 
ening in Shantung province of, 
118; rumors of coming troubles 
at, 119 ; ordination of first native 
minister in, 120 ; reinforcements 
for, 121 ; owing much to Miss 
INIoon, 122 ; mission station of, 
at Chefoo, 123 ; work progressing 
in connection with, 124 ; perse- 
cution in, 129 : Tung Lai Associ- 
ation organized in, 130; loss of 
missionaries at, 132 ; work crip- 
pled at, 133 ; additions to, 134 ; 
Chinese- Japanese war affecting, 
135 ; schools connected with, 
137 ; prosperity at, 138 ; Boxer 
disturbance causes persecution 
at, 141 ; prospects of, 142. 

Mission, The, in Liberia : founded, 
144 ; Lott Carey and Colin Teague 
sent to, 144; names associated 
with, 147 ; Civil War causing 
withdrawal of aid from, 148; 
closed, 152. 

Mission, The, in Yoruba: estab- 
lished, 155 ; missionaries arriv- 
ing at Lagos connected Avith, 
158; mission reinforced, 159; 
sustaining losses, 160; hardships 
in connection with, 161; debts 
against canceled, 163 ; trouble 
befalling, 163 ; appeal for men 
for, 165; the missions in, of Ab- 
beokuta, and Ogbomoshaw, 166, 
167 ; five stations occupied in 
connection with, 168 ; reinforced, 
168; mission depleted, 169; bap- 
tisms and members at, 173 ; sus- 
taining losses, 175; outlook at 



GENERAL INDEX 



409 



Lagos in, 177 ; valuable workers 
added to, 178 ; institute held at 
Ogbomoshaw, connected with, 
179. 

Mission, The Italian : establish- 
ment of, 181, 182 ; noted baptism 
connected with, 183 ; church 
organized in connection with, 
183 ; troubles in connection with, 
186 ; Doctor Taylor appointed for, 
187 ; valuable acquisitions to, 
188; disappointments in connec- 
tion with, 189 ; new Rcunan 
church organized in connection 
with, 190; monthly journal es- 
tablished by, 190 ; fortunate in 
securing workers, 191, 192 ; mis- 
sion at Venice organized in con- 
nection with, 191 ; new property 
secured for, in Rome, 193 ; need 
of chapels in connection with. 
191 ; Doctor Eager sent to, 195 ; 
has full share of trials, 196; 
Apostolic Baptist Union formed 
in connection with, 197; Doctor 
Eager taking charge of work 
connected with, 197, 198; Avay- 
side opportunities in connection 
with, 199 ; interesting work of, 
200, 201 ; prosperity of, at Flor- 
ence, 204 ; cases of persecution 
in, 205 ; progress in connection 
with, 206 ; Doctor Eager resign- 
ing connection with. 207; Sig- 
nor Galassi's work in connec- 
tion with, 207, 208 ; progress of, at 
Gravina, 209 ; responsibilities 
and opportunities of, enlarged, 
210 ; latest additions to, 211 ; 
work in connection with, pre- 
paratory, 212. 

Mission, The Brazilian : opened 
by Mr. Bowen, 213 ; First Bap- 
tist Church of Brazil estab- 
lished by, 214; additional mis- 
sionaries sent to, 214 ; vast terri- 
tory connected with, 216 ; church 
at Bahia in connection with 



217 ; establishes a center at Rio 
Janeiro, 218 ; reinforcements ar- 
riving at, 219 ; territory of Minas 
Geraes opened for work in con- 
nection with, 221, 222 ; change 
in Brazilian government bene- 
fiting, 223 ; helpfulness of its 
missionaries, 224 ; encourage- 
ment in its mission at Rio, 225, 
226 ; welcome addition to, 226 ; 
convention organized in con- 
nectiou with, 228 ; joy and sor- 
row in, 229 ; printed page used 
in connection with, 230; perse- 
cution of Mr. Ginsburg in con- 
nection with, 230, 231 ; an im- 
portant convert for, 232 ; Baptist 
Association organized in con- 
nection with, 233 ; glorious har- 
vest in, 234 ; persecution at Per- 
nambuco connected with, 235, 
236 ; growth in the Pernambuco 
station of, 236 ; Mr. Nelson's 
work in, 237 ; Mr. Ginsburg's 
success in, 238 ; additions to, 
240 ; school work in, 241 ; perse- 
cution in, again, 242; churches 
in, in good working order, 244; 
most fruitful field of Conven- 
tion, 245. 
Mission, The Mexican : decision 
of Convention to open, 246 ; the 
Westrups connected with, 246 ; 
Mr, Powell receiving appoint- 
ment to, 247 ; Baptist newspaper 
connected with, 248; Madero 
Institute opened at Sal til lo by, 
248-250 ; additions to workers of, 
250; unfinished cathedral pur- 
chased for, 251 ; many changes 
in, 252 ; Mr. Powell's work in 
connection with, 254 ; large in- 
crease of missionaries for, 254, 
255 ; seed-sowing and harvesting 
in, 256 ; missions transferred 
from, to Home Mission Society 
257 ; missions of, consolidated, 
258; difficulties in, in people's 



4IO 



GENERAL INDEX 



contentment. 259 ; loss and gain 
in, 261 ; changes in connection 
with, 262, 263; steady progress 
in, 263 ; indifference of natives 
as to worJc of, 264 ; changes and 
advance in, 265, 266 ; troubles 
in, 266; work among the In- 
dians by, 268 ; new missionaries 
added to, 269 ; meeting of Bap- 
tist Association connected with, 
270 ; no great awakening in con- 
nection with, 271. 

Mission, The Japanese: mission- 
aries i\ppointed to, in 1860, 272 ; 
established, 2 73; Missionary 
Union and Foreign Board co- 
operating as to, 273, 274 ; island 
of Kiushiu selected as basis for, 
275 ; changes in, 275 ; first church 
constituted in connection with, 
275 ; Japanese pastor loaned 
to, by Missionary Union, 276 ; 
schools established in connec- 
tion with, 276 ; difficulties en- 
countered by, 277; Japanese 
success in Chinese war causing 
indifference to, 278 ; work in 
Nagasaki connected with, 279 ; 
activity among Christians in, 
281. 

Mission among the Indians : no 
new thing, 340; covering large 
territory, 340; confined chiefly 
to Indian Territory, 341 ; sought 
by Choctaws, 342; Association 
of Choctaw chui'ches formed in 
connection with, 343 ; Rev. H. 
F. Buckner connected with, 343, 
344 ; missionaries of, acquiring 
Indian language, 344; native 
preachers connected with, 344, 
345 ; John Jumper and Joseph 
Islands associated with, 345-348 ; 
law against, 346 ; persecutions 
endured by members of, 347, 348 ; 
Civil War hindering, 348, 349; 
resumed after Civil War, 349 ; 
comfortable homes for its mis- 



sionaries supplied, 350 ; Mr. 
Buckner's zeal in connection 
with, 350, 351; work of, among 
Seminoles, 351, 352; work by, 
among the Creeks, 352, 353; 
encouragement for, 354, 355; 
school established by, among 
Choctaws, 355, 356 ; opened 
among Kiowas, 356, 357; Avom- 
en's society organized by, 358: 
complications in, 359. 
Mission, The Cuban: contem- 
plated, 361 ; movements toward, 
362, 363 ; Diaz working for, 366 ; 
Mr. Wood visiting, 367 ; church 
organized in connection with, 
368; animosity of Rome against, 
370 ; working for people in time 
of plague, 370; Mr. Cova becom- 
ing attached to, 373, 374 ; pur- 
chase of the Jan6 theatre for, 
376 ; Gethsemane Church dedi- 
cated in connection with, 376, 
377 ; schools organized in con- 
nection with, 378, 379 ; churches 
related to, 381 ; suffering in con- 
nection with, 384; work re- 
newed, 384, 385. 

Negroes : interest of South in re- 
ligious Avelfare of, 312 ; religious 
training among, before the war, 
313 ; encouraging work among 
them, 314 ; work among, during 
war abandoned, 315; preferring 
white teachers but their own 
churches, 316 ; mission work 
among them more difficult, 316, 
317 ; eager for an education, 317 ; 
institutes established among, 
319 ; eminent brethren laboring 
for, 320 : Northern and Southern 
co-operation for, 323-325 ; growth 
among, 326 ; their women looked 
after, 327. 

New Orleans : Southern Conven- 
tion interested in, 286 ; Coliseum 
Place Church established in, 



GENERAL INDEX 



411 



288 ; much money expended in, 
by Home Board, 295; renewed 
efforts in, 298-300. 

Populations, Foreign. The Chi- 
nese: mission among, 328; Mr. 
Shuck missionary to, 829 ; useful 
convert from, 330; work among, 
given up, 332 ; work among, in 
Baltimore, 333. The Germans: 
mission among, at Louisville, 
834 ; missionary appointed for, 
at New Orleans, 335 ; mission 
among, at St. Louis, 336 ; exodus 
from, to English churches, 337 ; 
mission opened for, Oklahoma, 
337 ; work among, not rapid, 338 ; 
work among, in Baltimore, 338, 
839. Italians : work among, 339. 

Publications : societies organized 
for, 27; first, of Sunday-school 
and Publication Board, 321. 

Report : of committee at Provi- 
dence, 5 ; on American Baptist 
Home Mission Society, 7 ; on 
Sunday-school organization, 371. 

Resolutions : Doctor Fuller's, 2 ; 
substitute for, 3 ; Alabama, 4 ; 
formed at Fortress Monroe, 824 ; 
as to the Convention, 395. 

Rome : mission established at, 182 ; 
Doctor Cote entering, 182 ; Bap- 
tist church organized in, 183 ; 
property acquired in, 185; hall 
for mission purposes rented in, 
189; new church organized in, 
190 ; new location secured in, for 
mission, 193. 

Shanghai : mission opened at, 79 ; 
Mr. and Mrs. Yates missionaries 
at, 81 ; first baptism in, 86 ; Doc- 
tor Yates writing from, 89 ; reb- 
els gaining possession of, 90 ; 
Doctor Yates leaving and re- 
turning to, 93 ; missionaries flee- 
ing to, 104 ; Mr. Bryan's work in 



and return to, 104, 107; fiftieth 
anniversary of Baptist church 
in, 108 ; church at north gate in, 
110 ; work at, during Boxer dis- 
turbance, 111 ; Mr. Hartwell at, 
115. 

Shuck, Rev. J. L. : appointed a 
missionary to China, 42 ; with 
Yong Sen Saug at Convention, 
44 ; working among the Chinese 
in California, 329, 330. 

Society, American Baptist Home 
Mission : missions in Mexico 
turned over to, 257 ; interested 
in work in New Orleans, 287 ; 
visiting New Orleans after the 
war, 295 ; arranging matters 
with Home Board in Oklahoma, 
310; participating in education 
of the Negro, 318; co-operating 
with the Home Board in insti- 
tute work among Negroes, 319 ; 
conferring with Home Board at 
Fortress Monroe, 323; effecting 
arrangements with Home Board 
in Indian Territory, 360 ; adjust- 
ing matters in Cuba with Home 
Board, 386. 

Society, American Baptist Pub- 
lication : sustaining Southern 
Sunday-school interests, 36 ; 
making unification proposition, 
40 ; participating in work among 
the Negroes, 318 ; employing 
Diaz, 385. 

Taylor, Dr. J. B. : appointed mis- 
sionary to Italy, 186, 187 ; making 
provincial tours, 187, 188 ; mod- 
eration of report of, 188 ; hall in 
Rome rented by, 189 ; visiting 
Venice, 191 ; making earnest ap- 
peals for aid, 194, 195 ; health of, 
impaired, 197 ; affecting farewell 
to, 203 ; encouraged by progress, 
206 ; visiting Trieste, 207, 208. 

Tichenor, I. T. : chosen secretary 
of Home Board, 11 ; engaging in 



412 



GENERAL INDEX 



army work, 294 ; participating in 
services in Cuba, 377; again in 
Cuba, 387. 

Tungchow : basis of North China 
mission, 113; Mr. Hartwell at, 
113; Baptist church organized 
at, 114; Doctor and Mrs. Craw- 
ford at, 115; work growing at, 
119 ; chapel dedicated in, 122 ; 
reinforcements at, 124, 125 ; new 
missionaries at, 126; war days 
at, 136 ; Boxers causing trouble 
at, 140. 

Tupper, Dr. H. A. : foreseeing 
women's work, 14 ; encouraging 
mission to Brazil, 215. 

Union, Woman's Missionary: or- 
ganized, 12, 13 ; organizations 
represented in, 14; gifts of, to 
Home Board, 15 ; constitution 
of, adopted, 17 ; points guarded 
by, 17; annual meeting of, 18; 
features of the work of, 18 ; 
States uniting in, 19 ; feeling 
impulse of Carey Centennial, 19 ; 
considered in Southern Theo- 
logical Seminary, 21 ; tenth an- 
niversary of, 21; inaugurating 
Babies' Branch, 22 ; contributing 
to loan fund of Home Board, 22. 

Union, American Baptist Mission- 
ary: approached as to work in 
Liberia, 144; co-operating as to 
work in Japan, 273, 274 ; loaning 
Japanese pastor to Foreign 
Board, 276. 

War, Civil : affecting Bible Board, 
28; affecting missions, 115; caus- 



ing withdrawal of aid from Af- 
rica, 148; preventing work in 
Japan, 272 ; influence of, in gen- 
eral work of Home Board, 292, 
293 ; causing religious work 
among Negroes to be aban- 
doned, 315 ; stopping work 
among the Germans, 335 ; brings 
ruin to the Indians, 348; crip- 
pling the Convention, 392. 
Wayland, Francis : making report 
at Providence, 6 ; opposing sepa- 
ration, 7. 

Yates, Matthew T. : early training 
of, 80 ; arriving at Shanghai, 81 ; 
health failing, 83 ; interesting 
incident related by, 84, 85 ; writ- 
ing from Shanghai, 89; in the 
siege of Shanghai, 90 ; indemni- 
fied for losses of mission prop- 
erty, 91; leaving and returning 
to Shanghai, 93 ; feeling encour- 
aged, 94; entering government 
employ, 96; twentieth anniver- 
sary of arrival of, in China, 97 ; 
appeals of, for reinforcements, 
99 ; signal answer to prayer of, 
101 ; suffers partial paralysis, 
102 ; death of, 102. 

Yong Sen Sang : the first Chinese 
convert, 44 ; his character, 44. 

Yoruba : description of, 153 ; peo- 
ple of, 153, 154 ; missionaries ar- 
riving at, 155 ; petty war between 
towns in, 162 ; five stations occu- 
pied in, 168 ; political excite- 
ment in, 172 ; fifty years of mis- 
sion work in, 180. 



MAY 1 - 1902 



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MAY 1 1902 



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Cranberry Townshrp, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



